


Pearl of Parallels

by singing_to_empty_caves



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Fire, Graphic descriptions of fire, Homophobia, LGBTQ Character, Original Plot, adding fandom tags as they become relevant so BUCKLE UP, addresses the timeline branches, but before botw, he's. not a sweater, i call this kid jumper and you'll find out why, more like coming of eras, not coming of age, occurs after all 3 established timeline branches, significant amount of death, there are no gods here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2020-10-26 11:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 32,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20741840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singing_to_empty_caves/pseuds/singing_to_empty_caves
Summary: For as long as existence itself, there have been gods. Benevolent, with outstretched hands to their people. They appoint heroes, the opposition to war and destruction.However, after time has become innumerable, the gods seem to have collapsed.The hero decides to appoint himself.





	1. the songs that nobody wrote

This wasn’t the healthy glow of life that he’d grown used to.

The twittering birds, the rustling leaves, the gentle brush of grasses… soft blades under his feet, the rough feeling of the rocks and the tree bark against his hands… the sight of the creatures, the life, the light peeking through…

Now, the light invaded. And it burned.

And so did… the bodies.

He was choking, gasping, screaming, silent.

Smoke invaded his lungs, and he coughed and hacked and stood there, dead.

Soon, the trees threatened to invade him, too… and so he ran, but he stayed, watching the ashes of his home float through ember-red air.

    _And from the ashes of an ignorant world rose a pearl of wisdom, to enlighten mankind and to burn the imprints of death in their memory; all this, that they might be watchful for the signs of disaster, and never permit such destruction to return._  
\--The Shanli Sancton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
This is just a teaser, essentially, and the next chapter will be significantly longer. I just wanted to put this out here and see if there's any interest in the story.  
This isn't an established Link, but currently, he does comply with the Historia... in a way. You'll see :)


	2. our hands are held higher

It was nice, really, their cozy little spot in the world.

He’d heard about city life. He knew there were booming businesses and gatherings that verged on destructive. This country had been going downhill, his father said, since men started chasing after steam. He liked the idea of it, though: machines, looming and metal. He liked picturing the men operating those things. Maybe they tended to sweat. Boiling water was hot, that was the point of it, and for a steam-powered machine to work, these men would end up hot all day.

These little thoughts about that world were about as far as he got, though. He had no desire to move out there and operate one himself, or even to watch. His place was here, in the woods. After all, not many men these days had the mind to go out and do all the heavy lifting. They were all working on those machines… or so he’d heard.

No, Link was perfectly content to pursue his passion: woodwork.

On a warmer day of the spring, he stood under the shade of a simply-built roof. He didn’t like to have to sweep up wood shavings and work around his personal belongings, so he didn’t do any of his larger projects inside of his home. Instead, he had a dedicated space just next to it. Half of his reasoning for the space had already been invalidated by the messy stacks of wood covering most of the ground, but he had his table and his tools, and the rest didn’t matter in the end.

“Ho, Link!”

Link looked up from the small carving in his hands and smiled at Entu. “Hi!”

“What’s that?”

In Link’s hands sat a near-finished carving of a dog. “What’s it look like, Entu?”

“Now, don’t be smart with me. Y’ain’t a man quite yet.”

Entu laughed, and so did his nephew.

“It’s for Liria,” Link explained. “You know how she’s been mopin’ since Yimm got that new yo-yo.”

“And who gave Yimm that yo-yo?"

Link shrugged sheepishly. “He was bored out of his mind, what with his momma bein’ stuck in bed.”

“Y’know, it ain’t an awful idea for you to make somethin’ for yourself, kid.”

“Why?” Link turned the dog around in his hands, studying all of its current contours. “Brings me enough happiness to see the kids havin’ fun.”

“And thank the gods they’ve got that,” Entu sighed. “World ain’t shapin’ up to be too kind to ‘em.”

“I’m glad that war’s stayed out West,” Link said.

“Mhm, I am too. We ain’t got no problem with anyone, and Hyrule can’t drag us into anything.”

“I wish the King would see sense.” Link started carefully running a knife along the wood again.

“We all do. He’s wreckin’ our country. It’s a wonder them soldiers haven’t strolled up the path to recruit you,” Entu said, rolling his eyes.

“Nah, they won’t want me.” Link flashed Entu a grin. “All them fancy war machines, I wouldn’t know where to begin. They need men quick--no time for trainin’ some country boy.”

“Good. This village would fall apart if you weren’t around. At the very least, our houses.”

Entu elbowed Link, and the kid laughed, blond hair sweeping to the side as his head tilted.

No, Link didn’t want a war. No one did, and thankfully, Karius was far away from the steam machines and the fight alike.

* * *

The sun was setting when Link knocked on Limm’s door.

The door swung open, and a man with more stubble than skin glared at Link. “Ain’t you s’posed t’ be eatin’ right about now?”

“Soon. I have somethin’ for Liria.” Link held up a cloth pouch tied up with a neat bow of twine.

Limm grunted and opened the door wider for Link to enter, attempting to conceal his smile in its shadow.

When Link walked in, he turned the knob for the upstairs gas lamp up-down, up--down, up-down, up-down, eyes on the top of the narrow staircase.

Within moments, a girl about six years old came bounding down the stairs and threw her arms around her visitor with a huge grin. The noise she made wasn’t coherent, but it was incredibly happy.

Link placed his left hand on her arm and tapped out another message. She let out a loud, joyful shout and let go of him with eyes shining in anticipation.

“Yer both crazy,” Limm declared. “Jus’ write a note.”

“If we write things, she couldn’t ever keep anythin’ secret from you,” Link replied. He waved to get Liria’s attention, then tapped on the wall in very distinct patterns. ‘Y-O-U-R-D-A-D-T-H-I-N-K-S-W-E-A-R-E-C-R-A-Z-Y’

She put her hand up on the wall as well, and considerably more slowly, replied: ‘Y-O-U-A-R-E-I-A-M-N-I-C-E’

Link laughed. ‘G-O-O-D-O-N-E’

“What’re y’all sayin’ ‘bout me?” Limm asked with a frown.

‘H-E-T-H-I-N-K-S-W-E-A-R-E-M-A-K-I-N-G-F-U-N-O-F-H-I-M’

Liria laughed and stuck her tongue out at Limm.

“I promise, I’d tell you if we were laughin’ at you,” Link said. 

“Wha’d you say that was? Some kinda… military code?”

“Not military.” Link hummed. “I don’t think, anyways. I just… heard it once, and taught myself.”

Limm rolled his eyes. “This about yer spy ears?”

“You know what I told you Liria and I figured out.” Link shrugged. “I got too much hearin’ from the gods, so there wasn’t any left to give to her.”

“Don’t mean you cin hear all them funny messages th’ cluckers send out there.”

“You’re just bitter ‘cause you don’t know the code,” Link said--and then he imitated Liria by sticking out his own tongue.

“I’ll tell Entu you ain’t respectin’ yer elders!”

‘I-A-M-I-N-T-R-O-U-B-L-E-L-E-T-S-G-E-T-O-U-T-O-F-H-E-R-E’

Link and Liria looked at each other and nodded. Then Link flung open the door and they both sprinted out, Limm yelling after them.

* * *

Link sat facing Liria on a hill, surrounded by flowers and grazing cows. He’d jumped the fence and helped Liria over; he knew Yaram wouldn’t mind, especially since Liria didn’t like to leave the house too often and Link was getting her some fresh air.

‘W-H-A-T-D-I-D-Y-O-U-G-E-T-M-E,’ Liria tapped eagerly on Link’s hand.

Link held out the pouch and laughed softly as Liria all but destroyed it trying to get it open. When she registered what was in her hands, she gasped and held it to her chest.

Link gestured for her to give him her hand, and when she held it out, he tapped into her palm. ‘I-T-I-S-J-U-S-T-F-O-R-Y-O-U’

Liria turned her hand over and tapped on Link’s. ‘N-O-S-H-A-R-I-N-G’ she asked, with a look of confusion.

‘I-F-T-H-E-Y-A-S-K-F-O-R-I-T-S-A-Y-Y-O-U-C-A-N-T-H-E-A-R-T-H-E-M’

Liria’s laugh scared away some of the birds nearby.

‘B-U-T-I-R-E-A-L-L-Y-C-A-N-T-H-E-A-R-T-H-E-M,’ she managed to tap amidst her giggles.

‘G-O-O-D’

Liria threw herself at Link for a hug, and he eagerly complied.

‘W-H-A-T-I-S-H-I-S-N-A-M-E’

Liria leaned back again, and her face scrunched up. Then she looked up at the sky, beginning to turn the colors of sunset, and grinned.

‘C-L-O-U-D’

Link nodded at her. Cloud. It sounded as good as any other name.

She sighed and looked up at the sky again. They both knew it was getting dark, and he’d dragged her away just before dinner.

Link stood up and held out a hand to help Liria onto her feet. They walked back to the fence, and Link hopped over it effortlessly before lifting her up and swinging her over. Her laughter made him smile brighter, and as they headed back to Limm’s home, Link imagined all of the ways that Liria could spread her joy, even without any spoken words.

* * *

Link shut the door of his and Entu’s house quietly.

“Did she like it?” Entu asked.

“Indeed she did. Cheerful as always.” Link fell onto their worn-out couch with a sigh. “I hope she doesn’t lose all that light.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well… we’ve got our code, and the other kids don’t really pick on her too much… but when she gets older, I get afraid she’ll start to hate bein’ deaf. You know, when she’s out and about, lookin’ for boys, tryin’ to do her part around here. I really am worried.”

“I don’t think there’s anythin’ in the world that’d kill her spirit,” Entu said. “Have you met that child?”

Link breathed out a laugh that faded back into worry. “I don’t know… you never can tell. Even if she doesn’t turn on herself, other people around her might change… make her upset, or somethin’.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Entu walked in front of the couch and set down a plate on the small table there. He tossed his head in a gesture for Link to eat the food on it.

“She can read,” Entu pointed out. “And she can make her way around this village. So long as she ain’t alone, she’ll be fine.”

“I sure do hope so,” Link sighed.

He started to eat, and watched Entu go about tidying up. Link winced when he saw Entu pick up a discarded shirt off of the floor.

“When’ll you start takin’ care of your belongings?” Entu said.

“I do mean to, I just forget.”

“You’re seventeen, Link. If you don’t take responsibility soon, I ain’t sure you ever will.”

“Responsibility ain’t just about laundry. Don’t I make money, and look after the village?”

“You sure do, kid… question is, is that gonna carry through your whole life?”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Link asked around a mouthful of food.

Entu set down the bundle of clothes. “You don’t know what’ll happen in the future. Say another carpenter turns up. Better than you, more experienced with all those types of wood we don’t have around here. Now, what’ll you have? No clean home, no partner, nothin’ but your handiwork, and it ain’t no use anymore.”

“Is that what this is about? A partner?” Link laughed. “Entu, do you know me at all?”

“I’m just sayin’, plenty of women would swoon over you.”

Entu’s words unsettled Link’s stomach, and he shifted his position. “Maybe. Let ‘em wander into the woods and find me, and I’ll give them a chance.”

“You’ll be alone all your life,” Entu said.

“If I start lookin’ after my own laundry, will you stop pesterin’ me about findin’ a lady?”

“How did I raise such a hopeless nephew?”

Link shrugged and stood up, holding his now-empty plate. “I take after you, don’t I?”

“See, but even at your age I was ugly as a cow’s rear end. You’ve still got a chance.”

Link elbowed Entu as he passed by to wash the dishes. “I’m cleanin’ up in the kitchen. See? Not hopeless after all.”

* * *

“Careful!”

Yimm and Yaru frowned at Link.

“We are bein’ careful,” Yimm protested.

“Yeah!” Yaru agreed.

“You’re doin’ something pretty dangerous right now. Can you tell me what it is?” Link said, gesturing to the small blocks of wood in each boy’s hands.

Yimm scoffed. “No, ‘cause we ain’t doin’ anythin’ dangerous!”

“Yeah!”

Link pointed to the block in Yimm’s hand. “Your fingers are sittin’ right where the knife’s gonna go. It’s a wonder neither of y’all have cut off your fingers yet.”

“But I’m not bein’ stupid,” Yimm protested. “I stop the knife before it hits my finger.”

“Me too!” Yaru shouted.

“And what happens if you get distracted, or startled?” Link countered. “It’d be too easy to slip up.”

“But I ain’t gonna!”

“Yeah!”

Link sighed and held out his hand. He pointed to a thick white line across his index finger. “Yimm, Yaru, how d’you think I got this?”

“I dunno.”

“I was doin’ exactly what you two are right now… then BANG!” Link shouted. He hummed to himself when the kids pretty much jumped out of their skin. “Poa wa’nt but fifteen years old back then, and he was playin’ around with his daddy’s gun.”

“He shot you?!” Yaru gasped.

“No,” Link said. “He shot straight up into the sky, but I happened to be in the middle of movin’ the knife. The sound startled me, and--” Link made a slicing noise and gestured as if to cut his finger. “I sent that knife right into my finger.”

“No way,” Yimm said.

“Swear it’s true! Ask Entu. I came runnin’ to our house, screamin’ at the top of my lungs. And my finger…” Link couldn’t help a grin at the thought of the boys’ reaction. “Well, the whole tip of it was nearly gone. Floppin’ around while I ran.”

“Did it hurt?!” Yaru asked.

“Oh, like hell,” Link agreed. “And I couldn’t do a thing with that hand for weeks. I had to be very careful with that finger… ‘cause, you see, when you cut yourself that deep, the skin won’t come back together right all on its own. It needs help. So, your momma had to stitch it up for me! Just like she mends your clothes.”

Both of the boys shuddered, and Link laughed.

“You see now why I don’t want either of you holdin’ your fingers in the way of the knife, right?”

“Yeah!” Yaru yelled.

“I don’t want Momma to sew my finger!” Yimm cried out, clearly distressed.

“She won’t have to,” Link reassured. “So long as you remember to hold it like…” He corrected Yimm’s hold on his wood block. “This.”

Yimm and Yaru nodded furiously, Yaru repositioning his own hands to avoid catastrophe.

“Now. I know you two are smart, and I know you’ll remember this… right?”

“Right!” they both shouted.

“Good.”

From down the path, Link heard a faint, “Boys!”

“Speakin’ of your momma…”

“We don’t gotta go home, do we?” Yimm complained.

“I’m afraid so. But y’all can come back tomorrow to keep workin’ on these.”

“Link…”

Link shrugged. “You can stay, but you won’t have any lunch.”

Yimm and Yaru both gasped and sprinted down the path, earning a laugh from their mentor.

Link had been planning to go out and gather more materials, maybe something new to try and stain the wood with. As much as he liked teaching the kids his own work, he did need things to do the work on in the first place. In fact, he was hoping to find something to help make a deeper red color--Sai loved the legend of the red lion, and Link wanted to get started on a gift for her coming of age.

Yimm and Yaru would be back the next day; for the afternoon, Link would go and find what he needed to bring the next smile to life. He grabbed his worn-out leather bag and set off, away from the beaten path and into the trees.

* * *

Sai wouldn’t be looking for a red lion anymore, so when a stray flame started to warp the shape of his bag, Link tossed it to the ground and sprinted faster.

He prayed to the gods that someone else had made it out alive, but he doubted it more with every passing moment.

There was no clean air left. Link stumbled in his frantic escape, coughing so violently that his entire body convulsed. His eyes stung from the inescapable thickness of the smoke. Burning. Crumpling. He had to get away.

Everything was red now. Flames licked at the grasses just behind his feet.

_“Careful!”  
Yimm and Yaru’s frustrated faces melted off of their skulls as they lay dead on the ground._

The smoke-induced tears burned. More coughing. His steps were less steady.

He crossed the stream. The water was near-boiling as it splashed up from his shoes.

_Liria couldn’t speak; her fingers were curled in and shriveled, blackened._

Link broke through the trees, scrambled across the messy stone path, turned to see fire as far as he could manage around his burning vision.

Coughing more and more. 

His vision burned out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
Constructive criticism is always welcome.  
I'll try to update once a week, but I might slip up every so often. School's wild.  
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!


	3. take me away, i promise i won't mind

Link woke up, still plagued by heavy lungs. He wheezed in a breath and coughed it back out, still somewhat in a daze.

Everything had burned. Nothing was left. No one was left, except him. He was alone, and homeless.

He forced himself to sit up off of the ground, wincing at the pain from his damaged skin, and glanced around… which may have been a huge mistake.

Smoke still hung thick in the air. The ground was littered with bodies. He thought, for a moment, that they’d been in the woods with the fire and tried to escape. That thought fled his mind when he noted the pools of blood. His stomach turned as he realized he was surrounded by corpses.

They all bore bullet wounds, and so they must’ve died while he was unconscious; he hadn’t heard any gunfire before then. It followed that he’d passed as another casualty, already lying on the ground and seemingly dead.

Another violent cough had Link tense and shaking, and he looked back at the trees--still aflame, and spreading. The fire could easily destroy all of the forested areas of the country. As it was, he knew that the expanse of stone and dirt around him was only an interruption. If he walked far enough in the opposite direction, he would meet more trees--possibly trees that would be burning within hours. He didn’t know how quickly a fire like this would spread.

Link tried to raise his voice to call for help, but when he attempted to force out sound, his throat only gave him yet another raspy, painful sound. He was alone, left for dead, and silent. He managed to stand up off the ground and broke into another respiratory fit from the stinging in his hands. They must have gotten burned by the air alone.

A screech from behind shattered that statement, and Link spun around to face the most horrifying creature he’d ever seen. Its skin was a sickly gray-blue shade, and it wore clothes nicer than Link had ever owned--but rumpled and torn. He stared into its crazed, colorless eyes as it let out another cry and rushed at him.

Link managed to jump out of the way--just barely. He stumbled across the roots and rocks, trying to catch his balance, until something whacked him in the spine hard enough to send him further away and onto the ground.

“_Hylian,_” it hissed.

Link wanted to plead for his life, to make a truce with this creature so that they could both make it out of the fire alive, but his voice continued to fail him. He watched the monster raise his club yet again, eyes set on Link’s skull.

“I kill you… or you _burn._”

Link’s eyes caught the fuel hanging off of the thing’s hip and realized that wherever it came from, it had had a hand in the destruction that surrounded them. His eyes went wider, then snapped shut, red and watering from the smoke.

He heard a cackle, and the moment slowed for him.

Murderer in front, the sound of laughter, fuel, a blunt weapon. He didn’t know what it would do to him.

Fire behind, crackling into his ears, waves of heat rolling over him, sure to burn. Sure to burn him, if he let it.

Cackle.

Crackle.

If this was the type of monster that put the bullets through Hyrule’s citizens, then Link would stick to his guns. He didn’t want this war, and he wouldn’t get involved, and he wouldn’t give that thing the satisfaction.

Link took a few deep breaths--summoned the courage--and launched himself backwards with as much force as he could muster. 

* * *

It didn’t burn. Somehow.

He wasn’t burning.

It was… cold, actually… and wet. 

Link stood up slowly from what appeared to be a shallow pool of water. The liquid dripped from his hands, where it was shocking his nerves, and rippled at his feet with loud echoes.

The water was sometimes a crystal blue… sometimes an angry red… and shifted between each color in a constant fluid motion. He noted that the patch of red beneath him didn’t waver.

A loud drip sounded behind him, and he turned around, sandals kicking up a cacophanous splash.

There was a pearl. Floating. Hardly the size of a marble, and faintly shining the same red color as the water at his feet.

Link coughed softly and took a couple of steps to stand right in front of it, noting that it sat directly at his eye level. His toes were hanging off of the edge of… something, and Link looked down to see that the very ends of his shoes sat on a ledge. The surreal water fell in a neat sheet from each jagged point of the hole, headed into… stars?

If he was above the stars… what was above the stars? The gods?

He didn’t really believe in them. He hadn’t for a long time. The country wasn’t like it used to be. There were stories of miracles, and appearances, and even that the Royal Family descended from a goddess--but those were irrational. Society wasn’t as developed back then, and science had disproven all of those stories.

Still, he wished he could speak, if only to ask if anyone was here after all. Maybe they could fix the disaster below…

All right, so what if this whole scenario was the work of whatever ‘gods’ actually existed? He couldn’t be sure which ones they were--sometimes there were three, sometimes seven, sometimes just one. He’d have to figure out something that was common, constant, and move on from there to figure out why he was in this place.

The only thing he could think of was the Shan. The Hylians--in the religious sense--claimed it was sacred. If the whole Church of Hyrule agreed on it, it had to be a decent place to start.

The Shan… Link tried to remember what Entu used to read to him. 

_And from the sky came a great number of people, led by divine power._

Well, there weren’t any people up here now.

_In the midst of a curtain of darkness…_ something?

Link shook his head. This wasn’t working.

He was about to turn around and look for something else when he remembered something with a physical jolt.

_Pearl of wisdom…_ something about _ashes… burn… disaster…_

He didn’t remember it word for word, but he knew it was from the Shan. Pearl of wisdom... the Church said the Royal Family held some sort of holy power of wisdom. Did this have to do with the King? No, they said the gift of wisdom belonged solely to female royalty. Made sense, with the way the King had screwed everything up.

Burning tears welled up again, and alone, Link let out a sob that descended into a fit of hacking and cringing away from any contact between his face and hands. No one in Karius asked for the King to start a war, and look who was paying for that decision now.

_ Take responsibility._

Entu’s words echoed into Link’s mind, and he swallowed the next onslaught of tears. Grieving or not, he had a chance to change things. He had a connection to the Royal Family in front of him… probably. It was worth a shot, for everything he’d lost.

Link reached out and closed his left hand around the pearl. 

* * *

Within the blink of an eye, Link was back on solid ground… but it was… different.

For one thing, nothing was on fire.

Link took a hesitant step forward onto the grass in front of him, and inhaled as deeply as he could without hurting himself. The air was… fresh. Still tainted by the smoke settled in his nose and mouth, but it was crisp and clear, cool, with a slight breeze.

Where… was he?

There was a sudden freezing sensation in his left palm, and he hissed and instinctively dropped the pearl that he’d been holding. It fell into the soft, vibrant blades below, now shining blue. The same blue as the water…

He knelt down and hesitantly put a finger on it, then quickly drew back at the harsh cold. Clearly, this pearl didn’t want him touching it.

Still… whatever the pearl had done, it was important, and he didn’t want to leave it lying around in a field. He didn’t have his bag anymore, or any other way to carry it…

Glancing around, Link noticed a tree somewhat nearby with various fallen objects surrounding it. He approached it and picked one up. It looked like some kind of nut, with a brightly colored interior. Maybe he could hollow it out to keep the pearl inside, at least until he could find a better container for it. He cursed himself for leaving his knife behind and tried opening it by hand.

It exploded.

The light was blinding, but thankfully he wasn’t injured. Well, except for the few bits of the shell embedded in his skin.

“What in the Goddesses’ creation possessed you to crack open a Deku nut?” an incredibly judgmental voice asked from behind.

Link turned quickly to see a teenager with reddish-brown hair, one hand on her hip. She stood in front of a wooden wagon drawn by a single horse, and she wore a loose-fitting dress made of coarse fabric. Who used wagons anymore?

“Well? Are you just gonna stare at me, or explain yourself?”

Link shrugged weakly and pointed at his temporarily-disabled throat.

“Oh,” the girl realized. “I understand.”

He watched her as she looked him up and down, unashamed of her curious gaze.

“You smell a mighty amount like smoke. Your skin’s all red, and your hair’s just a little singed. Would I be jumping to conclusions if I said you were in a fire?”

Link shook his head, affirming her suspicions.

“Oh, my. Well, Deku nuts aren’t any help, you know.”

Link shrugged again. He wanted to ask so many questions, starting with where he was, but he didn’t really have the means to communicate. Soon after giving up on interrogating the girl, though, he realized she might be able to offer him something to hold the pearl with. He waved her over to where it still lay in the grass.

“What are you doing?” she sighed, but followed all the same.

Link pointed at the pearl in the grass, failing to come up with any gestures that would explain further.

“What is that..?” She picked it up, and Link winced before realizing she wasn’t affected by it at all. “A pearl? Is this yours?”

Link nodded, staring at it in her hands.

“It’s nice… but why was it in the grass?”

Again, Link was quite literally at a loss for words. However, when she attempted to hand it back, Link waved his hands frantically.

“I have no idea what to do with you,” the brunette sighed. Then she suddenly lit up. “Wait! I know who might be able to help you. My grammy said she used to know someone with plenty of odd habits who never spoke--you might have better luck with her than with me.”

Link wasn’t sure what to do. On the one hand, he didn’t want to throw himself into a situation where he’d be around more strangers in an unfamiliar place, especially considering the attempt on his life very recently. On the other hand, the girl’s grandmother could legitimately help him figure things out. He made his decision with a firm nod, and what he hoped was a friendly smile.

“Good to hear!” The girl extended her hand to Link. “My name’s Taria.”

Link shook her hand politely, unable to introduce himself in return.

“Now, I was just on my way back home anyways. From a delivery, I mean. My family owns a ranch,” she explained as she climbed back into her wagon. “Hop in.”

Link obediently joined her under the canvas covering.

“You might’ve heard of us before. Our family’s business got a fair bit popular when my grammy was my age. Lon Lon Ranch--it’s named after her and my great-gramps.”

Link didn’t recognize the name at all, but there had to have been a reason for the pearl to throw him to this specific place--and if this wasn’t the reason, then at the very least, he’d make the acquaintance of someone from the area. He smiled at Taria again.

“Well, at least you’ve got a charming smile,” she laughed. “It’ll only be about an hour home from here, and then I’ll make sure and get you some fresh milk. Until then, you should rest a bit--you look like death.”

Taria’s bluntness was only a little bit offensive, as Link knew she had a point. He nodded and leaned up against the side of the vehicle, letting his eyes drift shut for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, now we're getting somewhere!  
Thanks for reading, and as always, I'm open to thoughts and suggestions.


	4. the most unbelievable that i've ever seen

When Link started to wake up again, he noticed that the wagon wasn’t moving anymore. Immediately after that, he noticed that he wasn’t in the wagon anymore. He coughed, then winced; he was lying in a fairly nice bed, in smoky, burnt clothes.

“Finally awake?”

Link looked up at Taria. He was sure his confusion showed on his face.

“Yeah, I tried to wake you up when we got here, but you were out _cold,_” Taria emphasized. “My grammy didn’t even listen to the whole story before she had me bring you up here. To my bedroom, I mean.”

Upon processing that statement, Link immediately gave Taria an embarrassed, apologetic look and tried to get up. He supposed he hadn’t realized the toll the whole disaster had taken on him until that moment, when he barely had the strength to sit upright. Taria reached out and steadied him, but didn’t force him to lie back down.

“Now, now. That was her decision, not yours, so don’t go feeling like trouble to us. Besides, you need some quality rest, and we all know it.”

Link nodded reluctantly and stopped himself from trying to reply.

“You slept right through dinner, but I can whip something up for you, if you’d like.”

“Don’t bother asking him,” an older voice wobbled from the stairs. “He’s going to say no, even if he’s starving.”

“How do you know, Grammy?”

The vague image Link had in his mind of Taria’s grandmother solidified when she reached the doorway. She was wrinkled, spotted, but clearly still sharp as a tack. He could’ve sworn that something sad flicked over her eyes when he first made contact with them--but it was gone as soon as he was half-sure he’d seen it.

“I know your type,” she said, rather than answering Taria. Link shrunk back a little at her seemingly accusatory tone. “Tripping over yourself, always a disaster. In your case, blasting a Deku Nut open in your own face.”

Taria stifled a giggle, and her grandmother turned her head like lightning to fix her with a glare. She shut up immediately.

“Smoke’s got your lungs, right?”

Link nodded at her.

“That’s all right. Link, isn’t it?”

He gave Taria’s grandmother another nod, and again, something in her eyes.

“You’re not from around here.” It wasn’t a question.

“Grammy, you can’t be sure--”

“He isn’t.”

Link shrugged at Taria.

“Ha!” The elderly woman extended a hand. “Malon. If you’re brave enough to shake my hand with yours in that state.”

He shook his head, and Malon raised one eyebrow.

“You,” she said, still sounding accusatory. “You threw me off with that one.”

Link opened his mouth to speak, then stopped himself once again with a small burst of a cough sneaking through. Malon gestured to a glass of water next to the bed, then tilted her head.

“Your eyes aren’t the same.”

“The same as what?” Taria asked.

“They’re older, but they’re still soft. You’ve grown up well.”

At the mention of growing up, Entu’s face entered Link’s head, and suddenly he hated Malon for saying something that she probably found completely harmless.

“Well, that one struck you,” she observed. 

How was this woman so good at reading him? He’d never met her in his life.

“You’ve got the same look in your eye as the calves do when we let ‘em out of the barn for the first time, and those eyes are just getting wider.” This time, Malon physically nudged the water towards him. “Rein in that curiosity, and keep yourself hydrated.”

Link shrugged weakly and took the glass in his hand. He winced at the cool surface on his burnt palm, and then again at the pain of the liquid going down his damaged throat.

“So, how’d you get here? Magic instrument? Secret portal?”

Why did Malon immediately discard the idea of standard land travel?

“He seemed to think this thing was pretty important.” Taria held out the pearl to Malon, and Link watched anxiously.

“A pearl? That’s new.” Malon took it and rolled it around in her hand. “It’s blue, though. Might be related to the fairy boy’s little flute.”

“What fairy boy?” Taria seemed just as confused as Link at this point.

Malon closed her hand around the pearl and looked up, directly into the burnt boy’s eyes. “Link. The fairy boy.”

Was Link hallucinating? Did the smoke finally reach his brain?

“What, did the goddesses skip out on telling you where you are?”

Link nodded slowly, eyes fixed on Malon.

“How grand of them. You and the fairy boy could’ve had the angriest conversation, I swear.” Malon laughed. “You’re in Hyrule, but wherever you’re from, it’s not here. Different Hyrule. Most likely, a different time--unless we’re having awful luck.”

“Grammy, what are you talking about?” Taria asked, perfectly vocalizing Link’s confusion.

“Oh, you wouldn’t remember,” Malon dismissed with a wave. “Have to say, you’re doing pretty well with all of this. How long have you been on your journey?”

Link was sure his face said it all.

“All right, it seems like it hasn’t been very long at all!” she laughed.

Malon reached out and grabbed a nearby chair with her shaking hands, then pulled it forward to sit in front of Link. He realized, when she sat so close, that her eyes were just as bright a blue as his own.

“Do you even know who you are?”

“Grammy, leave the boy alone!” Taria interjected.

“Actually,” Malon said, turning her head to face Taria, “why don’t _you_ leave _us_ alone? Check in on Janus or something.”

“Or something,” Taria muttered as she left.

“Janus is one of our horses,” Malon explained to Link. “He’s been antsy recently, but we can’t seem to figure out why. He’s not sick, but aside from that, we don’t know much of anything.”

Link made a sympathetic face, thinking of how much everyone at home loved their animals.

       
_Jira ran her fingers slowly through Trill’s mane, smiling softly. Just a foal, but she’d be grown in due time--time enough for Jira to be her rider._   
_The light glistened off of her green eyes and her sun-glowing hair as she spoke softly to the little horse, one she’d helped deliver just a couple of weeks before._   

  
Maybe Malon had a memory of her own, or maybe Link had been transparent in that moment; for the first time, she showed him an openly soft expression.

“I should’ve known you’d have the big heart, too,” she said. Her tone was filled with aging cracks. “Your empathy has to do with the pearl, right? And the fire?”

Link nodded, eyes drifting to the hand that held his pearl.

“Let me guess. Last-ditch effort to fix things?” She rolled the pearl around in her hand, not even looking at Link--almost as though she didn’t really need an answer. “You left the fire and went running to the gods. Maybe they could change the whole disaster, you thought?”

That was where Malon was wrong. He didn’t go to any gods, he just ran from death. He still wasn’t sure if he even believed the gods had intervened, or if this was the product of his brain burning out in the flames. He watched the pearl move across Malon’s weathered skin, the blue that burned him.

“Just like the fairy boy,” she sighed. “Desperate to save the world, latching onto whoever needs him…”

Malon finally met Link’s eyes again. “If I’m your first stop on this quest, then I’d better explain to you just what’s going on.”

* * *

_  
It was after years of relative distance that Link finally returned to Lon Lon Ranch for the express purpose of visiting Malon._

_He was asleep in the barn--he insisted on it, giving some excuse about being accustomed to sleeping with animals or on the dirt. Malon knew he was more worried about stealing a bed away from someone in her family._

_For the first time, he’d told her everything about himself._

_Raised in the forest._

_Parents missing._

_Born, apparently, into a legendary role._

_He wasn’t the first, nor would he be the last. Godly powers designated young men like him to fight back evil for all time… one after the other._

_“How many?” she’d asked, in tears._

_She’d done a lot of crying during that conversation, actually. To be fair, finding out a childhood friend was part of a cycle of destruction was a lot to handle._

_The legends weren’t clear, not even to the Royal Family, but there had been several generations of heroes. Young boys, plucked from their childhoods to fight battles they didn’t start; or teenagers, taken at the cusp of adulthood to throw away the rest of their lives into the struggle._

_The evil was going to cycle back through, eventually, and everyone knew it. No one could defeat that power for good._

_That was why the gods appointed heroes, leaving marks of divinity on their skin. Triangles, stamped onto their brave warriors._

_Although, now that she’d had a few hours to think on it, she understood a little more. Link was made to fill that role. He had all the goodwill in the world, all the urge to do right, all the indignity against injustice. His soul practically existed to fight corruption._

_Someday, there would be another child, or teenager, or whatever the goddesses saw fit. Someday, there would be more of the struggle, but for now, Link had kept them safe, and Malon could only hope that the next hero was anything like him.  
_

* * *

“That was years ago,” Malon laughed softly. “And I’ve had a lot of time to imagine what you’d be like, but I didn’t expect you to look quite so much like he did.”

Malon had taken Link in on sight, given him a bed, spoken to him like a friend--it all made sense now. But how could she tell him he was a legendary hero? If the gods wanted him to know that, wouldn’t they have said something when they gave him the pearl? And what about that “mark” she mentioned? The pearl made a little more sense in this context, but Link had far more questions now than he did before--which was saying a lot.

Besides… didn’t this imply that he alone was responsible for fixing Hyrule? A nation in the gutter, on his shoulders?

“It must be much more for you to take in than for me,” Malon said. “That’s okay. I wouldn’t dare send you on your way like this, anyways. You need time to heal. Wherever that fire was, it did a number on your skin--and your voice.” Then she cracked a smile again. “If you’re going back into that heat, I might just have to lend you one of Link’s old outfits. He went into a volcano once, that madman, and he swore up and down that one specific outfit a Goron gave him kept him from bursting into flames himself!”

Link--the one sitting with an elderly Malon--found himself smiling slightly at the story as well. He nodded in agreement with her, knowing that as much as he hated the idea of taking advantage of someone’s kindness, he’d hate it more to set off without a clue as to what to do. If he was going to have to fight for Hyrule, he wanted to fight for everyone from Karius as well, and he wouldn’t let anything but the best effort stand for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback welcome!  
I've been keeping up weekly updates so far, so expect new content on Mondays!  
Also... drop an F for literally any one of these characters.


	5. counteracting

_Someday, he’d convince Miyo to give him a chance with one of those horses. He’d always watched them eagerly from the opposite side of the fence, hoping that one of them would stray his direction._

_One of them in particular always caught Link’s eye. She was young, but as Miyo said, “spirited”. According to Link’s experiences, that meant that she hated anyone getting within ten feet of her without a sugar lump to share. Her name was Epona--a name from the Shan, some vague assistant to Verink. The passages almost implied that Epona was his best friend, or maybe even a sibling._

_Epona wandered near the fence, where Link watched her with the wide eyes of a curious child. Her back was smooth, and it shone with the sunlight as her head lowered to uproot the grass at her feet._

_Then, she looked up to him, and his eyes met one of hers from the side. You were never supposed to look an animal in the eye… but Epona didn’t shy away, or get upset. She stared right back at him, and something was in her gaze that sent a wave through Link’s chest. He didn’t know what it meant, but before he could decipher it, she turned and left him again.  
_

* * *

There were horses nearby--Link could hear them. Hadn’t Malon called the sick horse Janus? He wished he could go and comfort Janus, with the noises of distress coming through the walls. Unfortunately, though he could breathe a little easier, he still couldn’t speak very well.

He tried again, just to check. He could only produce a small squeak.

How was he supposed to get anywhere with the whole ‘saving the country’ thing if all of his conversations were one-sided? He didn’t know how to get the pearl to take him back home, or what he was supposed to do here in this… past, or other, Hyrule. If it had to do with Malon and Taria, then maybe he needed to learn more about them.

Actually, wouldn’t his lack of voice help with that? He could find out a lot just by listening. With his missing speech, they would try to fill in the silence; he’d get more information, and hopefully get to the bottom of the pearl’s action.

It had to do with this other version of himself, he knew that much. But the story didn’t add up. He didn’t have the “mark of the gods” that Malon told him about, and from what he understood, this “fairy boy” knew a lot more about the gods than Link did. If Link was supposed to be “chosen”, then why did he have to throw himself into the fire? Why did he have to place all of his trust in a mystical object, with no one to tell him what it was? He didn’t even know enough about the Shan to make any concrete guesses about this pearl. The association with the Royal Family was a loose correlation at best. A whole night of thinking, and he still had no idea where to begin.

The sound of the door interrupted Link’s thoughts, and he sat up as Taria approached.

“You’re moving around easier,” she observed.

Taria handed him a bottle of red liquid, thicker than water and sluggishly lapping at the sides of the container. Link turned it around in his hands and stared at it. It wasn’t blood… was it?

“Hey, don’t get picky. Nobody likes the taste of potion, but you need the help.”

Potion. Taria actually expected him to believe that he’d be healed by a potion. Malon must’ve been dead-on when she said Link was from the future.

He was probably still giving the bottle a dubious look, as indicated by Taria’s sigh of frustration. “You wanna wallow in the pain? Fine.”

Link shook his head quickly as she tried to take it back, and instead fumbled with the cork. Gods, a cork in a glass bottle, what year were Malon and Taria living in?

Smaller, calloused hands interrupted his tingling, burnt ones. Link watched Taria slip the bottle out of his grip, and pull out the cork with ease. She held it out to him, and he took it back with an embarrassed blush.

“Grammy was right, wasn’t she?” Taria asked softly. “About you being from some other time, I mean.”

Link shrugged, fixing his eyes on the floor to try and avoid what he knew was coming.

“That pearl… what does it do?”

There wasn’t a way to answer Taria’s question, even if Link had had the ability to speak. All he knew was that he thought it was a great big fix to the problems at hand, and instead it flung him far into the past. Karius wasn’t gone yet, but it probably didn’t exist yet, either. Link felt like he should be in a greater state of mourning, but all of the pain was dulled by overwhelming confusion and physical exhaustion.

“Hm.”

He felt the bed sink next to him, and Link tensed up.

“You know, Grammy told me I’d never have a shot with you.”

There it was. Taria was speaking softly, as if the two of them shared some huge secret--something that tied them together. Link hated this part.

“But you have to admit, Link… you’ve got really good looks going for you.”

Taria moved closer, and Link didn’t have the courage to shut her down. He never did, with anyone. He just prayed that the heat he felt on his face wasn’t too visible.

“And considering I’ve given up my bed for an indefinite time, just so you can recover… I do believe you owe me something, at least.”

Taria moved closer again, and her hand touched Link’s back--

“You leave that boy alone!”

Malon’s shout sent Taria across the room. “Grammy, I was just--”

“Now, I told you not to act like that with him, and look what you’ve gone and done!”

“He wasn’t exactly stopping me!”

“His shoulders were touching his ears! Anyone that tense doesn’t want your hands on them!”

Taria turned around to see Link staring with wide eyes. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved that Taria wasn’t sitting next to him anymore, or mortified that an elderly woman had to stick up for him. Either way, he felt like he was stuck on that thought.

“Link, were you bothered by what I did just now?”

Taria’s tone was confrontational, as if his answer was only a tool in her argument against Malon. He winced at its bite, then glanced over at Malon for help.

“You can be honest,” Malon encouraged. “She’s tough.”

Link looked back at Taria and nodded, refusing to meet her eyes.

“Grammy, you made him say it!”

“I did nothing of the sort! It’s not his fault he’s too nervous to push you off that bed.”

Taria groaned in frustration and stormed out the door.

“Come back here, young lady!” Malon chased after her--if those hobbling steps could be called a chase.

Link exhaled slowly, set down the potion he was still holding, and dropped his face into his hands. He hated this, every time. It made him feel nauseous when someone touched him like that, like they were going to use it as a gateway to intimacy. 

He wanted to be at home, safe. Carving something. 

He couldn’t do anything about the first part, but maybe the second. He considered asking Malon for some scrap wood, and a knife, if she had one. It would distract him, in any case.

As if he’d cued her return, Malon stepped back into the room and shut the door behind her. “She locked herself in the barn--she does that when she’s upset with me.”

Link shrugged, and Malon sighed.

“If you share it in common with my Link, I think I know why you didn’t want her to make a move.” Malon raised an eyebrow. “Wooing women just isn’t your thing, is it?”

Rather than answering directly, Link glanced around and found a small carving already on the dresser. He pointed to it, and Malon followed his line of sight.

“Ah, so _that’s_ your thing,” she chuckled. “My Link was never much for woodwork. He preferred music.”

The Link in front of her tilted his head in a signal of curiosity.

“He had an ocarina--a wind instrument--that held the power of the goddesses. Of course, it didn’t work unless you could play certain songs, so I suppose it was a good thing that he was so good with it.”

An instrument with godly power? Why were these people so obsessed with their gods?

“And that’s what I thought of when I saw your little pearl,” Malon continued. “But we can continue that later. You want to carve, don’t you? Get your mind off of my granddaughter?”

At this point, Malon seemed to know that Link’s shrug really meant a yes that he didn’t want to actually say. When she saw his shoulders move, she nodded and opened the door again. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Link glanced at the potion in his hand. Sure, he’d been skeptical of its validity, but would it really hurt to try? He decided in the next moment and took a sip.

The skin on his palms didn’t sting anymore.

Huh.

* * *

_  
“Miyo still believes in those ‘herbal’ methods,” Limm sighed. “It ain’t science, I hope she knows.”_

_“It seems to be keepin’ the horses healthy,” Entu offered. _

_He was right; the animals in Miyo’s care almost never faltered. She was the most successful rancher any of them knew--even outside of Karius._

_“Don’t do nothin’ for people.”_

_“Limm… not even modern medicine could’ve done anything for your daughter.”_

_“A hospital woulda kept ’er fever down--”_

_“--and she still would’ve gone deaf. It was unavoidable.”_

_Limm scoffed. “You don’t know dawdle-top about how avoidable it was.”_

_“You can’t keep actin’ rough and tough, Limm. Liria needs you to be a consistent parent.”_

_“Tell that to her momma, Entu. That girl could use a good talkin’-to ‘bout responsibility an’ stickin’ it out.”_

_Entu was silent. Limm reached into his pocket and started to assemble a smoke from the plants Miyo often used._

_“‘Don’t do nothin’ for people’, huh?” Entu said._

_“I meant healin’ ills n’ wounds. I do this for th’ blur.”_

_“You can’t blur out your daughter.”_

_Limm grunted and lit up his smoke. From Link’s hiding place behind Limm’s house, he watched the man puff out thick clouds that rose up into the sky. Those grasses, they kept horses like Epona healthy. Link had watched through the fence, sometimes, as Miyo treated them. The right mixture of herbs and nectars made magic; the sick were cured, the injured were saved. He wished Limm wouldn’t use it like this, but maybe it would make him a little less miserable after what happened to his daughter--maybe it would make him stop shouting and crying, the way he didn’t know Link could hear._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Link... are you guys enjoying his character so far? He's gonna grow from here, but he needs to learn some things first!  
Sorry the chapter's a bit shorter than usual. It's just the nature of this section.  
I promise, we're actually gonna move along with the pearl's mechanics next chapter!  
Feedback welcome :)


	6. to the left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for being a day late! I'm making a prop for my Halloween costume and there was a sudden death in the family (I didn't really know them, but I had to clean up the house so other family could stay here). I was up SUPER late trying to finish it, but I also needed to actually sleep before class.  
Thanks for waiting!

Several days passed, and with the help of what the women insisted were potions, Link was up and walking again--with healing skin to boot. The palms of his hands held no more pain, and he’d been making good use of the tools Malon had brought him.

The wood he’d been given was in the vague shape of a horse. He’d decided to model his work after one of their horses, as a way of thanking them for sharing their space and resources. He knew he’d be able to work off his stay soon enough, but this was what he could give for now.

Of course, to detail the carving, Link needed to actually see one of their horses. That was why he slipped out of Malon and Taria’s cozy farmhouse late at night, with the goal of finding their stable.

It didn’t take too long to locate the shed-like structure, lined up along their strip of buildings. The door hung slightly askew on its hinges, with a hole where a knob likely used to be. He slipped inside to find the perfect subject, the outside edge of the door scraping along an already-worn curve on the ground.

His feet were bare--he hadn’t yet replaced his shoes, damaged by the fire--and the hay on the floor poked into his skin as he took careful steps towards the stalls. The last thing he wanted to do was to frighten one of the horses and give himself away. He didn’t know how skittish they were around strangers, or how defensive the ill horse would be.

A soft snort drew Link’s attention--a strange occurrence, considering how quiet it was among the rustling of every other animal in the building. He decided to investigate its source, tracking the location by ear.

When he arrived at one particular stall, he saw a beautiful creature: hair nearly pure white, and black skin beneath. One of its dark eyes locked onto his.

      
_Link was twelve years old when he looked Epona in the eye again. She usually avoided going near him, but this time she approached from across the field and studied him closely. It almost felt like she was looking for something in him.  
He took a step backward, and Epona immediately turned to wander away again, clearly disinterested._  


Link gasped softly. _Janus._ He had no doubt in his mind that this was the horse Malon had told him about.

This time, instead of backing away, Link extended a hand before Janus. He held it low, within reach but not too close to Janus’s face.

To his surprise, Janus responded by tilting his head towards Link’s outstretched palm. Ever so gently, Link placed his hand on the side of Janus’s head.

The minute he made contact with Janus, a strong feeling shot through his body, exactly the way he’d felt when he first saw Epona. However, unlike that first meeting as a child, Link could hear a deep rumble from within Janus’s body. There weren’t any words involved, but Link somehow knew that Janus was welcoming him, introducing himself to the human before him.

Link still couldn’t speak, but maybe he could communicate with Janus anyways. He slipped through the gate and stood by the horse’s side, running his hand down Janus’s back.

The rumble shook Link to his very core, and his vision started to tremor just a little. Still, he didn’t move away from Janus. He wasn’t afraid, or alarmed.

      
_Epona’s gaze bored into him. He counted the reflections of light in her near-black right eye, but when he released his focus, the eye was on Janus’s left side._  


Link blinked, and the vision disappeared--but he knew that it meant something great.

“So that was why Janus was acting strange.”

Link jumped at the sound of Malon’s voice, and spun around. To his surprise, she had tears in her eyes.

“He was waiting for you, Link. He’s yours.”

What was that supposed to mean? Malon was just… giving him a horse?

“Child, I am just as confused as you are. Who would have known that I’d raise a horse for not one, but two heroes?” She chuckled. “Still… I recognized the way Janus was looking at you. It was the same way Epona used to look at the fairy boy.”

What…? This… previous version of himself, he had a horse named Epona? Was it a tradition to name horses after Verink’s companion?

Malon stepped forward and took one of Link’s hands in both of hers. He felt a warm weight drop into his palm, and when she uncovered it, he was shocked to see the pearl--a vibrant red again.

“Now, I know that you’re still lost in all of this,” she said. “But I think that wherever this pearl’s taking you, it wanted you to bring your horse along.”

Link didn’t know how to feel about that particular statement. This odd little artifact threw him back in time for a _horse?_ He wasn’t denying that something special happened between him and Janus, but it hardly seemed worth the effort. That is, if the pearl even had a concept of effort.

“There’s one more thing--from me this time,” Malon added.

Her weathered hands draped red fabric over his arm. It was old, faded, and just starting to fray at the edges. Link made out a collar, stitched instead of buttoned.

“It may be a little old-fashioned by your standards, but if it kept the fairy boy from burning alive, you might make use of it. It’s one of the only things I have left from him.”

Link shook his head and pushed it back at her, but she ignored it and flicked him in the head. “My sentimentality doesn’t take priority over your safety. Now, is there anything else you needed before going out on your big adventure?”

Link honestly still didn’t feel ready for whatever his “big adventure” was supposed to be. He didn’t even feel ready to think about what happened back home. On principle, he knew he needed to honor the fallen, but… any actual feelings were a haze. They’d stuttered to a stop days ago. Somehow, all of his cylinders were firing on the present, full-blast.

Huge adventure? Going to another unfamiliar place, after finally starting to get used to Malon and Taria? It was a loose familiarity at best, considering the short span of time, but Malon had been so kind, and he’d been able to sleep in a warm bed, and he’d--

Link rushed Malon in a hug, bewildered by the volatility of the ugly, silent sobs crashing through him. He couldn’t understand it him, and he definitely couldn’t even begin to explain it to Malon.

Thankfully, she enclosed him in her arms without hesitation. Her dress was old and scratchy, and her heartbeat was weaker than she should be comfortable with, but she held him with the same love and comfort that Miyo did when he needed it most.

“You’re different,” Malon said softly. “You don’t stay all stone-faced. You show us your heart, and that’s mighty brave of you, boy. It just might make the difference, when you go about your mission.”

Link pulled himself away from her so she could catch the full view of his watery smile. He knew she was talking about the fairy boy, and he knew that she meant every word of praise. It was just something in her being.

“Now… I imagine, if you’ll hold that pearl and hop up on Janus’s back, you just might find yourself in another place again.”

Link looked at his glowing red pearl, and then at Malon--then at Janus--then he nodded to Malon.

“You’re welcome,” she said, in response to the thanks he couldn’t verbalize.

He mounted Janus the same way he’d been taught to in Karius, careful not to drop the pearl or the tunic on his arm, and barely realized he was already departing until Malon’s face faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link has fren! Drop a comment letting me know what kind of wholesome Link & Janus content you'd like to see :)  
Thanks for reading, and feedback is always welcome!


	7. good feelings

Just like before, the pearl went cold the moment Link arrived. He released his grip on it by instinct, then quickly hopped off of Janus’s back and scooped the pearl up in Malon’s red clothing instead of leaving it in the grass. In the darkness of the night, the pearl’s blue cast a glow on the fabric.

He looked up to see a small house with an unusually large and obnoxious weathervane to one side. There was light coming from inside, gently flickering, and soft voices. Something about them nagged at Link, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. In any case, if he was going to go through with this whole thing, the pearl probably wanted him to see whoever was in the house. Goal in mind, Link approached the door and knocked gently.

“Who is it?” a loud voice asked, rather bluntly.

“Shh!” another person responded, ending in giggles.

Link didn’t know what to do next, seeing as he couldn’t speak. The closest thing he had was Liria’s language--he knocked ‘L-I-N-K’ on the door.

“We don’t have a secret knock!”

“You’re so obnoxious!” Again, the second voice was significantly less obtrusive. Link could only assume the comment was aimed at the first voice, and not at him.

He didn’t want to bother these men, but he didn’t know where he was or what to do, and he figured spending the night in front of their house would be rude at best. He knocked again, though hesitantly.

“Seriously? Take a hint! Don’t you know we’re--”

“_Ravio!_”

Okay, so the loud one was named Ravio. It didn’t sound familiar--but then again, he didn’t exactly remember the less prominent figures in the Shan, and he might have just been missing something obvious.

He tried one final knock.

“All right, stranger, if you’re so insistent--”

“Oh, Ravio, _don’t--_”

The door swung open, and Link’s eyes went wide. He turned around, feeling his face warm alarmingly quickly. This “Ravio” guy wasn’t wearing a single scrap of clothing, and he was standing centered in the doorway; Link had gotten a sudden, full view.

“Well?” Ravio demanded, seeming completely unfazed. “You were awfully persistent to not have anything to say.”

Link buried his face in his hands and turned around, managing to keep his eyes covered with one hand as he pointed to his throat.

“Oh. I see.” Ravio hummed thoughtfully. “Well, maybe you should come inside--it’s cold out.”

“No one is coming inside until we both have clothes on!” the other person insisted.

“Well, he’s seen me, so by technicality, he’s seen you. It doesn’t really matter,” Ravio reasoned.

“That’s not the point!”

“Ugh. Why are you Hylians so weird about everything? No one in Lorule would care!”

“Well, we think you’re weird, too. Give me a minute to get dressed.”

Link heard Ravio sigh. “I guess I should do the same, huh? You look Hylian, you’re probably gonna be just as weird about this.”

Link nodded quickly, and he heard the door swing almost-shut. When the only sounds left were rustling fabric, he took time to process what had just happened.

It was the first time he’d interacted with a boy at least near his age. Everyone he’d known was significantly older or younger, with the exception of exactly one girl--one that Entu and every other adult in the village had been pressuring him to marry. He wasn’t interested, he was never interested.

So why in creation was he feeling so weird about the image burned into his eyes? Gods, what was going on?

The door creaked just loudly enough for Link to pick up on it, and he hesitantly moved his hands from his face to see Ravio. To his immense relief, the stranger was now wearing clothes.

“The prude is willing to let you in now.”

“I am not a prude!” the second voice shouted.

“Believe me, I know.”

Link flushed again at Ravio’s tone, but nodded in gratitude and stepped inside.

When he locked eyes with the other person, though, the color in his face completely disappeared, and all of the air left his lungs.

He was looking at _himself._ Not necessarily an exact copy, no, but the hair hanging in front of the ears, the choppy locks above the strong eyebrows, the dark lashes around bright blue irises… it was _him._

This other person looked slightly less bothered, but caught off guard all the same. “Well, that’s new,” he said.

“I don’t know his name. He can’t speak,” Ravio filled in. “He was just standing outside, alone, holding that red tunic. Although I think I saw some kind of animal behind him. Nothing I recognized, but it didn’t seem malicious or anything.”

“Ravio, why didn’t you warn me about this?”

“Would you have believed me if I looked you in the eyes and said, ‘you have a second mirror self and he’s at the door’?”

The blond sitting on the bed studied Link for a moment. “...No, you’re right. I wouldn’t have.”

Second mirror self? Link paused, then realized that Ravio looked near-identical to the other person in the room. All of his features were the same, save for their coloring. Purple hair, green eyes, a cool tone to his skin… but all the same in shape. How did th--

Wait.

Wait a minute.

The giggling. The lack of clothing. The tone they used with each other.

Dear gods, were they..?

Oh. _Oh gods._ He’d just walked in on two boys sleeping with each other.

It was a sudden, relatively unprompted realization, but he immediately turned the darkest red yet and stumbled over his thoughts as he tried to figure out how to apologize.

“What’s wrong?” Link’s blond copy asked.

Link pointed at him, then at Ravio, then shut his gaping mouth.

“You just figured it out?” Ravio laughed. “You’re even more dense than Link is!”

_Oh._ Gods. His copy was actually one of these other heroes Malon told him about.

“Ravio, be nice! He’s clearly overwhelmed.”

Wait. Was that why he felt the way he did when he saw Ravio? Did he--was Ravio--

Link’s head was spinning, and he sunk to the floor. He feared that if he stayed standing, he’d pass out. Even sitting on the floorboards, he buried his face in his knees.

He vaguely processed whispers above him, and then a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you… doing all right?” the other Link’s voice asked gently.

No. Link was not doing all right. Once again, everything was crashing into him at the same time.

“Here. If you want to tell me what’s wrong, I have a pen and paper.”

Link looked up to see the other one holding out a small, blank book. He took it and started to scrawl out a quick explanation:

‘My village burned down. Pearl (gods?) took me to a different Hyrule, then here. Multiple Links, historical thing. I’m Link too. No idea why I’m here. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Sorry. Inn nearby?’

He handed the journal back to the boy who’d given it to him.

“Uh… that’s odd. Ravio, c’mere for a minute.”

Ravio obediently sat next to his… partner? They looked over the page together, occasionally mumbling to each other.

“It’s funny,” Ravio’s Link finally said. “You seem to understand what we’re saying, but we can’t read a word of this.”

The two boys sitting in front of Link must’ve seen his face fall, because Ravio winced and his partner bit his lip. They glanced at each other, then at their unexpected guest.

“Whatever happened, your clothes aren’t in the best shape,” Ravio’s Link declared suddenly. “The ones you’re wearing, or the tunic you’re carrying. I can lend you something to wear, if you want.”

“Link’s got a ridiculous amount of clothes,” Ravio added. “I’d pay you to take some from him.”

“Hey!”

Despite himself, the ragged Link they tried to comfort breathed out a silent laugh.

“I could even take you to a woman I know in Kakariko. She’d be happy to make you something.”

“Hey, Link, you should give him those brown shoes you never wear. They’d fit this whole rugged look he’s got going on.”

“Ravio, I’m gonna make him a whole new outfit--duh! He can have any ‘look’ he wants.”

Link started to wave his hands in protest, but Ravio grabbed them and held them still. “Let the boy do what he wants, stranger. We’ve got the money and the time.”

When Ravio and his Link were satisfied by their visitor’s silence, Ravio hopped to his feet and helped his partner up, then offered a hand to the new Link in the house.

The sight of Ravio’s bright smile and the extended hand caused Link to stall out for a moment. He shook it off, hoping that at least this last blush wasn’t too visible, and let Ravio help him up.

“Hey, maybe if you mouth your name, we can figure it out!” Ravio said suddenly.

Link opened his mouth, then changed his mind and shut it. The other Link was busy looking through a rack of clothing, and this visiting Link took the opportunity to look Ravio in the eyes and toss his head in Link’s direction.

“What do you--” Ravio suddenly stopped, then glanced between them. “Ah. Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it?”

The two of them watched the other Link for a few moments as he flipped through the clothes. He occasionally removed an item, only to put it back in a different place.

“It won’t do us any good to call you both Link,” Ravio pointed out. “Too confusing. One of you needs a new name.”

This time, Ravio’s eyes set on the Link he spoke to. Link felt rather exposed under Ravio’s stare, and noted how Ravio looked him over.

“Jumper.”

Link had to take a moment to realize that this was a suggestion for a name.

“It’s because you’re so skittish,” Ravio explained. “Constantly jumping and blushing at everything. Plus, I think you’d look cute in a jumper.”

Link… Jumper… nodded, now even more self-conscious about the pink on his cheeks. Did Ravio just compliment him, give him a thoughtful name, and insult him in the same breath? 

“Hey, stranger!” Link called to Jumper. “I have some stuff you could probably wear. Wanna take a look?”

“His name’s Jumper!” Ravio replied.

Jumper tapped Ravio on the shoulder. When Ravio turned to face him, Jumper pointed through the window at Janus.

“Oh, that’s right! Do you need a place to keep that animal?” Ravio asked.

Jumper nodded, then--hesitantly--pointed to himself as well.

“Mm, you need a place to stay, too.” Ravio glanced back at Link. “Well, our plans didn’t account for another participant, but I’m sure Link wouldn’t mind too much.”

Ravio only let Jumper flounder for a moment before he burst into laughter. “Ah, no, we’re not interested in another person who looks like us. That borders on conceited!”

Jumper let out a nervous laugh.

“In all seriousness, we have an extra bed stowed away… if you want to stay here.”

Jumper didn’t have any money, or any other means to repay them. He’d already slipped away from Lon Lon Ranch without earning his keep--he didn’t want to take advantage of Link and Ravio on top of that. 

However, before he could answer, Link rushed over and practically dragged Jumper to the clothing racks. “C’mon, don’t keep me waiting! You’d look so good in blue, you know.”

Jumper stole a look back at Ravio, who shrugged with a helpless smile and opened the door to a small annex. Just before Link demanded Jumper’s attention again, he registered Ravio uncovering an old wooden bedframe.

* * *

_”Entu?”_

_“Yes, Link?”_

_“What’s hell?”_

_Entu shut his book. “Now, where did you hear that word?”_

_“Poa said it.”_

_“Well, I’m gonna tell Akua to wash out that girl’s mouth.”_

_“But what’s it mean?”_

_Entu sighed and pulled Link onto his lap. “Depends on who you ask. It’s a place darker than our world--in fact, some people just call it the Dark World. Others call it the Twilight Realm, and some even call it Lorule.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Well, that’s what the Shan says. Although, all of them mean somethin’ a little different. See, when someone says ‘hell’, they likely mean the place that you go for punishment. No one knows for sure which one that is.”_

_“What else does the Shan say?”_

_“Lots of things.”_

_“I meant about those places,” the seven-year-old giggled._

_“Well… accordin’ to the Wise Men, Lorule is all around us--the opposite of everythin’ you see.”_

_“Really?”_

_“Mhm! The grass is purple, and the sky is orange, and when it’s night here, it’s day there.”_

_“No way.”_

_“Well, that’s what the Shan tells us.”_

_Link climbed onto the arm of Entu’s chair and hung upside-down from it, holding himself up with his legs. “I don’t believe it.”_

_“Watch it, boy, the gods are listenin’!”_

_Link clamped his mouth shut with wide eyes, and despite himself, Entu started laughing.  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
Oof, Link's life is getting spicy. Sorry there wasn't much dealing with Janus, but he's gonna stay put like Epona does. (Jumper's going to address this whole thing in the next chapter.)  
Feedback, as always, is welcome!


	8. youngtown

Jumper awoke slowly, slightly dazed after his second trip through worlds and hours of Link making him try on different clothes.

He’d learned several things from the first night with Link and Ravio. Firstly, they were both sixteen and made no mention of knowing or interacting with anyone older on a regular basis; Jumper concluded that they lived more or less on their own. Secondly, Link seemed to have a deep love for clothing--even things that Jumper thought were off-limits to men. He’d had to stop Link from putting him a dress several times.

The most important, however, was Ravio’s offhand comment about Lorule. He made it sound like he’d _ been there._ Jumper couldn’t imagine anything Ravio would’ve done to end up there, nor could he begin to understand how anyone would come back from that place. What’s more, Link replied in a way that almost made Jumper think that he’d been there, too.

Had he stayed the night with creatures from hell? Jumper was afraid to answer his own question.

It made sense, though… all of the unnatural things Link and Ravio said and did. Maybe that’s what men did in Lorule. Or… maybe that’s what _got_ them there. Jumper couldn’t be sure, but he certainly didn’t want to risk ending up in Lorule himself, so he hesitated to do anything out of the ordinary.

That included acting on any of the impulses he had around Ravio. He elected to steadfastly ignore those feelings until he was far away from both of the boys.

“Morning, Jumper!”

Jumper sat up with a start and saw Ravio standing at the entrance to the small annex.

“Sleep okay?” Ravio asked, unfazed by Jumper’s reaction. “Sorry you were surrounded by our junk.”

Jumper nodded quickly, hoping to avoid seeming ungrateful.

“Good to hear! Link and I were planning on heading out to Kakariko to stock up on some things, if you want to tag along.”

“If you don’t, you can stay, but you’ll probably be bored out of your mind,” Link called from the other room.

Gods, Link and Ravio sounded like a married couple from Karius.

Jumper shrugged and stood from the bed, stuttering a little bit as he felt the unfamiliar fabric against his skin. Link had lent him better clothes to sleep in, but they were far more luxurious than anything Jumper had ever worn in his small farm town.

“Excellent!” Ravio shouted, clearly excited for Jumper to come with them.

“Come on out, I’ll help you pick out some clothes!”

Again with the clothes? Jumper couldn’t understand how Link expected him to wear all of these expensive things. Actually, he couldn’t understand how Link had so many expensive things in the first place.

“Relax! I told you last night, I know someone who’ll make you your own stuff--that way you don’t feel bad about wearing mine.”

Link joined Ravio in the doorway with a smile on his face. Jumper noted that they held hands.

“I made something for you to eat, too, if you’re hungry.”

Then, to Jumper’s surprise, Link started making a motion in front of his mouth. Jumper stared in confusion.

“It’s a sign,” Ravio explained. “It means ‘eat’.”

Link dropped his hand. “We thought you might want to talk to us--well, not talk, really, but communicate. I know all kinds of signs; I used to be mute. Ravio knows them too, since we met before I found my voice again.”

This talkative and bubbly teenager used to be mute?

Ravio giggled. “You’re that surprised, huh?”

“I could talk when I was a kid, but when my mom died… I don’t know, something went wrong. It took years and a lot of work to recover. None of the doctors around here wanted to help me, since there wasn’t anything physically wrong with me.” Link shrugged. “I learned to ‘talk’ in other ways, and eventually Ravio and I got close enough that he started working with me to fix the problem.”

Jumper looked back and forth between Link and Ravio. He didn’t know it was possible to lose your voice without any physical cause, but why else would Link know how to speak with signs?

“I know this is new, and probably pretty scary,” Link continued. “I mean, from what we can tell, you probably just wrote stuff down to talk before now, huh?”

Jumper hesitated to answer, since he really hadn’t had much experience with this whole ‘no voice’ thing and didn’t exactly have a reliable way of communicating yet. Ravio and Link must’ve noticed his unsurety, because they did that thing again where they looked at each other and seemed to come to a decision in a split second.

“Well, whatever you were doing, I hope the signs will make it easier for you to talk to us,” Link continued. Jumper was grateful to him for dropping his question.

“Anytime you need a word, just get our attention. We’ll try to keep up with things and teach you anything you want to know.”

Jumper nodded. Then his eyes darted over to the main area of the house, and he approached the doorway hesitantly. Ravio and Link moved out of his way, watching him patiently.

There was a fireplace opposite the front door, and Jumper pointed to the charred wood within it.

“Do you mean ‘wood’?” Link asked.

Jumper shook his head and, though he felt silly doing it, pretended to fan his face.

“Oh! Fire.” Link made a sort of rolling motion with both hands, and Jumper mimicked it.

So, that was that. He needed to find places to show Link and Ravio what he wanted to learn signs for. Hopefully, they’d be able to help him after he explained what was going on.

“Anything else?” Link asked.

Jumper shook his head, and Link took that as his cue to gather up a bundle of clothes and shove it at Jumper. “Then, here. Hop on over to your room and get dressed.”

‘Your room’ hit Jumper almost as hard as the oddly maternal feeling he got from Link. He took the clothes offered to him and went to the storage room, shutting the door behind him.

Jumper undressed to put on Link’s clothes, but stopped after he’d removed what he was wearing. He glanced over his skin. It was fairly unharmed, though more pink in some places. He figured he owed that to Malon’s care, and whatever those “potions” were made of. 

It disturbed him. He could still feel the flames licking his skin, and the pain every time something touched its raw surface. He should’ve still felt the pain. He shouldn’t be healthy. The smoke had stolen his voice, and the fire shouldn’t have been pushed away. It needed to touch his skin. It needed to consume him. He didn’t deserve to stand unscathed when the fire had taken everything and everyone else.

“Jumper?”

Link’s tentative call snapped Jumper out of his thoughts, and he quickly covered up his skin with Link’s expensive clothing before darting out of the room.

“Hey, you look great! Told you--blue.”

Jumper shrugged bashfully, but it wasn’t until Ravio gave him a wink that he really found himself thrown off. _No, no, don’t think about it. Ignore it, ignore him._

“Let’s get going, then,” Link declared, and they filed out the door.

Jumper had reluctantly tied Janus to the giant weathervane outside before going to bed, but the horse didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Janus was nothing but happy to see Jumper. He approached the horse and ran his hand down Janus’s neck.

In a similar way to their initial meeting, Janus’s intentions flooded Jumper’s mind. Janus seemed to know that Jumper needed to go with Link and Ravio, and that he would not be joining them--he only asked that Jumper return by nightfall.

Jumper turned around and smiled at Link and Ravio, then stepped away from Janus.

“Will your animal be okay?” Link asked.

Jumper nodded. He noted that neither Link nor Ravio seemed to know what a horse was.

“All right. Follow us!”

Jumper obediently fell into step with Link and Ravio, silently wondering what the pearl had sent him for here.

* * *

Kakariko… wasn’t the same.

Jumper had heard of Kakariko, and it was a big city. Supposedly, it was busy, full of sights and opportunities. Not… Cuccoos.

To be fair, Link and Ravio seemed to be living in the past, too--although evidently a different point in time than Malon’s, if not a whole other world. Ravio had called Link a Hylian, so Jumper assumed they were in Hyrule, but it wasn’t a guarantee.

One of the Cuccoos passed by his feet, and he wondered why it wasn’t penned up. Loose like this, it was liable to get someone hurt.

“Have you ever been to Kakariko?” Link asked. Jumper shook his head.

“I don’t think he’s from here,” Ravio interjected.

Link was about to speak again when Jumper noticed what looked like a small family to their right. He waved a hand at Link, then pointed in their direction.

“Children?” Link guessed. Jumper shook his head.

“Playing?” Ravio said, watching them toss a ball around.

“Um… family?”

Jumper nodded quickly.

“Oh. Oh!” Link nodded and showed Jumper a short sign.

Jumper repeated it, then ran to a tree and looked back at Link and Ravio.

“Tree,” Ravio said. He carefully showed Jumper the sign.

Jumper mimicked Ravio, then stopped to think. Would he really be able to gather up enough signs to fluently explain his situation?

“Jumper?”

When Jumper looked at Link, the boy seemed paler than normal.

“You went out of your way to learn ‘fire’, ‘family’, and ‘tree’. Your… clothes were burnt.”

Jumper winced. Link clearly had a sharp mind, sharper than Malon’s.

Ravio seemed to catch on right after, and his eyes widened. “Holy Lo,” he muttered.

“There weren’t any forest fires in Hyrule… where did this happen?”

They were only silent for a moment before Link and Ravio seemed to remember that Jumper would’ve told them in the first place, if he could.

“Jumper, I think Link should know who you are,” Ravio said.

“Wait--what do you mean, Ravio?”

Jumper shrugged at Ravio as a signal to go ahead, albeit somewhat reluctantly. The last thing he needed was for Link to freak out even more, but then again, he had to think of what he was meant to do here, and whether Link could help him with it.

“Jumper is a nickname. His name is Link. He might be one of the Great Heroes.”

“Him? He doesn’t even have a boomerang!”

Link looked back at Jumper. Despite his apparent disbelief, he seemed to be considering the possibility that Ravio was right.

“We should go to Zelda.”

“Agreed.”

Link and Ravio started to walk away, but this time Jumper stayed put. Link noticed, and turned around to call him. Jumper guessed it was something about his expression that changed Link’s mind.

“Right… you still need clothes of your own,” Link stated, returning to Jumper. “Let’s focus on that for now.”

They only took a couple of steps before Link showed Jumper another sign. “Clothes,” he said softly, as if the word could bandage up Jumper’s situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
I know this one seems a little bit scattered, but it'll come together soon. :)  
For an Experience, try listening to 'Home Sweet Home' during the first scene and 'Paula's Theme' during the second. They're both songs from Earthbound.  
Feedback is always welcome!


	9. i've got dreams of my own

_“Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods,” Ravio breathed shakily, kneeling down next to Link. “Mr. Hero! C’mon, can’t you hear me?!”_

_Link didn’t move or speak, and Ravio’s uneven breathing progressed into full-on hyperventilating._

_“No, no, no, no!” he gasped, tears filling his eyes. “No, you can’t! You c-can’t!”_

_Ravio frantically started digging through Link’s pouches, and then his own, trying to find a fairy or a potion or something to fix this. Sheerow flew down next to his hands to get his attention, probably trying to calm him down, but this was not the time to be calm!_

_“Sheerow! I--go home, try to find something to help!”_

_Sheerow flew through the doorway Ravio had left open in his rush to reach Link. The flapping wings, the breathing, it all echoed off of damp stone._

_“Link…” Ravio was shaking. “You can’t go, you can’t! I-if you don’t do this… if you don’t, then I’ll have to, and I can’t save Lorule, or Hyrule, I’m--”_

_Ravio choked on his words and took off his hood to breathe. His deep purple hair reflected the torchlight illuminating the room as it swung down over his face, damp from sweat._

_“Wake up, Link!” he cried desperately, with a thick voice. “Please wake up!”_

_Something scratched on the ground behind Ravio, in the doorway, and his breath caught. He felt frozen, terrified, even as his body lurched with frantic sobs. Whatever was back there, he couldn’t make himself turn around to look at it._

_It was right behind him, he could hear it. Ravio held his breath, and the tears kept streaming down._

_“KYEEEEEE!”_

_In a burst of sudden courage, Ravio grabbed the first thing he could reach on Link’s belt--a boomerang, that was a lucky move--and turned around, nearly falling over in the process of jumping to his feet._

_Whatever the thing was, it lunged at him, and Ravio screamed and started wildly swinging the boomerang at it in the hopes of at least scaring it off. He realized it wasn’t working, and started backing away--until he tripped over Link. He stared up at the monster with wide, terrified eyes before shutting them as tightly as he could, pulling his hood back over his face, and preparing for the end._

_“Get off my legs!” Link shouted, causing Ravio to scream again. He quickly complied._

_From the limited visibility of his hood, Ravio watched Link take on the monster. There was an empty bottle on the ground, and Ravio sighed in relief when Sheerow flew to his side, cork in beak. Scared out of his mind and too nervous to stay, Ravio dropped the boomerang on the floor and ran out the doorway._

* * *

Jumper followed Link and Ravio on the path to the castle, keeping his head down. He didn’t quite feel the most comfortable in his current state. Link had gone a little overboard with the clothes shopping, despite Ravio’s protests on Jumper’s behalf. The trip ended with Jumper wearing a silky top and tights, which Link insisted looked good on him and practically shoved Jumper into the moment he saw them. It was almost like Link’s passion for clothes multiplied once he knew Jumper’s story--but why would it?

“You’re lucky we’re on our way to see Zelda,” Ravio said. “Hilda would be a different story entirely!”

And that was another thing. They were just dropping in to see the Princess of Hyrule, no invitation or announcement required. Jumper was incredibly reluctant to do so, but Link and Ravio insisted that it was the quickest way to determine what was going on. It filled Jumper with anxiety and dread; he seriously didn’t want to offend royalty, especially if it would affect Link and Ravio’s relations with her as well as his own.

“The guards will be more cautious about you than about us,” Link said. “We’re more… familiar? Zelda’s friends with me, and she’s… met Ravio.”

“Don’t worry. She may not like me too much, but she tolerates me,” Ravio told Jumper.

They reached the castle gates, and Link waved at the guards. “Good afternoon!”

“Link?” The one posted at the left-hand door straightened up. “We were told to send you straight to Her Benevolence.”

“On what occasion?” Link asked. He seemed just as confused as Jumper was.

“A breach between worlds… the sort that can be dangerous.”

“I understand. We’ll go straight to her.”

Link started to walk again, but the guards crossed spears in front of the doors.

“Yes?” Link asked.

“The _Lorulean_ is not permitted.”

Lorulean? Like… a person… from Lorule?

Jumper turned to stare at Ravio, forgetting etiquette in the shock. He had stayed the night with a _literal being of hell._ Link… was _together_ with someone from Lorule.

Thankfully, Ravio seemed oblivious to this, as he was busy staring down the guards. Something shone in his green eyes that Jumper hadn’t seen yet, shadowed by his downturned eyebrows.

“How many times have we come here?” Link asked. “You know what I’m going to say to you.”

“Do you really find it wise to bring a being of division and greed to discuss repairing the world?”

Jumper watched Link shut his eyes and take a steadying breath, as though he was seconds away from attacking the guard on Ravio’s behalf. 

“I know that we’ve had peace talks over Lorule. I know that this country knows that Lorule isn’t inherently bad. It’s full of opposites--for example, a guard stationed at this door with a sense of empathy.” Link took another deep breath to cut off the hostility rising in his voice. “Ravio isn’t a bad person. He’s just complementary to me.”

“And I suppose this other boy couldn’t possibly be dangerous, either? How can we know he’s not also from Lorule? A Lorulean whom Her Benevolence has never met… it could be disastrous for her. And consequently for you, Link.” The guard sighed. “You’re not even grown yet. You have so much learning left to do, about the world, about its dangers.”

“And who here was responsible for saving you all from Ganon?” Ravio suddenly interjected. There was clear anger in his voice.

Jumper felt like he was watching three different stories unfold at once. Ganon… the Beast King? From the Shan? _Link?_ And Ravio, a Lorulean, defending a Hylian? It wasn’t very clear who was on the good side and the bad side anymore, and Jumper was trying to process how all of this fit together and how in Din’s great creation he’d ended up in the middle of Link and Ravio’s country. 

However, Jumper quickly tossed this to the side when he saw the way Ravio refused to back down in the face of the guards--the second had joined the first in adjusting his grip on his spear, preparing for an attack.

“Link. Link saved this country, and where were you? Shoved to the back of your own heads, possessed by Ganon’s evil. He knows way more about the ‘dangers of the world’ than either of you ever will. So, I suggest that you stop preaching to us about things you weren’t even conscious for, and step away from that door.”

A tense silence grew between Ravio and his opponents.

“It’ll be a cold day in hell when I take orders from one of its residents.”

“Then take orders from _me._”

The guards turned to see that a gorgeous young woman had partially opened one of the doors and was glaring at them both. Jumper, though not smitten, noted the way that the sunshine captured her golden hair. It reflected similarly on her earrings, and the tiar_ohdeargodsthat’sthePrincess._

Jumper should’ve knelt down, or bowed his head, or done any other thing to show respect to her. Instead, he found himself frozen in shock.

“Your Benevolence! Link is attempting to--”

“Yes, and his attempts will now succeed. Move your weapons, or I’ll move them myself.”

The guards obeyed, and Jumper stared as the actual Princess of Hyrule stepped forward to stand in front of them. She wore a blue dress, with far fewer ornate accessories than Jumper had expected based on his knowledge of Hylian royalty. It was when he was studying her necklace that Princess Zelda cleared her throat, and Jumper averted his eyes from her quickly.

“Good afternoon, Link. Ravio.”

“Good afternoon, Zelda.”

One of the guards let out a quiet, choked noise.

“And good afternoon to you as well, visitor.”

Jumper couldn’t respond, but Zelda didn’t seem to mind. She went back to the gate and opened it for them.

“Now.” She smiled. “We have many things to discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
I know, I know. It's not as long as I wanted it to be. I couldn't finish the last scene in time to hit the later deadline I imposed on myself. In my time zone, it's 40 minutes until Friday and my eyes are crossing. Anyone who's reading this and hasn't hit college yet, I hope you're ready to lose all sense of chronology and forget what month it is.  
Feedback is welcome, especially for something written so scattered as this chapter was!


	10. i would get messed up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning that this chapter involves both graphic content and homophobia. Take caution.

Princess Zelda led the group into a smaller room in the castle, one isolated and free of any guards besides the ones directly on the other side of the door. There were books on the walls, and a desk behind her.

“Firstly, although the guards were not justified in their judgement, I’d like to know why you’ve brought a stranger from another world directly to my castle.”

Link sighed in irritation, and Jumper tensed up even further. There was no way Link would get away with addressing the actual Princess of Hyrule like that, especially after the trouble they caused at the gates.

“He’s one of the Heroes. At least, Ravio thinks so. But we can’t ask him, because he can’t speak.”

“Well, what’s his name?”

“Link,” Ravio responded readily. “But we’ve been calling him Jumper.”

Princess Zelda nodded and looked over at Jumper without hesitation. “What brought you here, Jumper?”

“Didn’t I just--”

Ravio cut himself off as Jumper retrieved a wadded-up scrap of fabric from his pocket. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether it would be more proper to approach the Princess or to wait for her to make the decision to approach herself. However, as she didn’t move, he assumed he wouldn’t be treated too harshly for stepping forward. She watched the bundle of fabric as, carefully, he pulled back a corner to reveal the ice-blue pearl.

“Oh, dear,” she whispered, taking the pearl in her own hands--Jumper was too afraid to object.

“What is it?” Link asked.

“It’s… well, the Royal Family has spoken of it for centuries, but I never imagined seeing it for myself.” She rolled it in her palm, and the blue color shifted like water, tumbling against its glass walls. “Yes, this would easily have brought you here, Jumper.”

“Yeah, but _what is it?_” Link repeated.

“It’s a pearl. So old, having reappeared so many times that no one can seem to agree on a name for it. But curiously enough…"

She walked over to Jumper and held out the marble in front of him. He moved to gesture in protest of taking it from her, but stopped in his tracks when it started to glow brightly.

"...it's always accompanied by a Hylian. Our country’s language has shifted over the millenia, but those who study our historic texts can make out constant references to parallel worlds. This Hylian, mentioned so often across countless eras, is said to be from one of these parallel worlds, and to be deeply connected with this pearl.”

Link studied the pearl carefully. “So… what does the pearl do?”

“No one is sure, exactly. However,” the Princess explained, “I may be able to answer some of our questions through the object itself.”

“Let me guess. Triforce?”

“Precisely. This pearl is connected with the gods. However vague our understanding of its connection is, I should be able to divine something from it by way of my own power. After all, Nayru would advocate an informed decision, would She not?”

Jumper startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but one quick glance at the cooler-toned skin clued him in that it was Ravio’s touch… oddly protective, for a Lorulean and a near-stranger.

“So long as nothing hurts Jumper.” Ravio had the same fierce tone of voice he’d used with the guards.

“I’ll be connecting with the pearl alone. I can’t see any reason why it would cause harm to this boy.”

A movement in Jumper’s peripheral vision--likely a nod--and Princess Zelda held out her hand. “Remain still and silent… this may require a great amount of effort.”

Jumper watched her shut her eyes, saw the mark of the Triforce on her hand start to glow, and suddenly it all disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

_Liria. Yimm and Yaru. Sai. Poa. Entu. Miyo. Limm. Yaram. Jira. _

_Jumper watched their faces pass by, heard scraps of their voices and knocking on walls._

_The fragments of memories became more and more clear, until he watched himself teaching the boys to carve, and spending time with Liria--the last twenty-four hours before the fire._

_The flames closed in, and scorched him. Everything on him was burning. He didn’t realize that from the outside, you could see the fire eating away at his clothing in a slowly-advancing line._

_“I kill you… or you _burn._”_

_Jumper threw himself into the fire, and he… what? His body lay there, in the fire, _burning,_ all the clothes and the skin… the flesh warping and bubbling up. His body was consumed, and his limbs contracted as if he was trying to shield himself from the oncoming destruction. His face lost all shape, it was just his skull and a misshapen, vague form of a human body. Hours, days, a corpse left over with white clouds of ash falling like snow all around. It caught in the cavities of his burnt-away eyes, and built up among the brittle leftovers of his hair. It filled the mouth left over, a mouth stuck screaming and silent. Pieces of him were falling off, landing in pillows of ash, covered by the soft aftermath of death._

* * *

The minute Jumper was free of the vision, he collapsed and started to retch. Ravio quickly joined him on the floor, holding him gently as he vomited onto the polished flooring.

He’d seen himself burn and die. Was that why the smoke wouldn’t leave his lungs? Why he felt like the fire should’ve taken him? His eyesockets should be empty. His skin should be blistered, warped, and scarred. Was that what he saw in the mirror before? Was he dead?! His own mangled body was imprinted on his eyes, and he felt tears coming on along with the acidic burning in his throat.

“Shh… you’re all right, Link,” Ravio said. His voice was soft, and close to Jumper’s ear. It was all the boy could register as his fit died down to dry heaving. He only had a vague awareness of someone leading him to another room, and he could hardly make out the hushed conversations around him.

“Just rest for a while,” Ravio said.

Jumper held his melting stomach and let the tears soak into the expensive-feeling pillow beneath his cheek.

* * *

_’Where am I?’_

_Jumper saw a young boy, maybe in his preteen years, rushing down the road._

_‘Who is that?’_

_“Hey, it’s Link!”_

_A crowd of boys approached him, and he drew into himself, trying to walk faster._

_“Found a new boy to spend the night with yet?”_

_“Nah, he’s seen all the other glits around here already. Ya know, Link, you’d meet a lot more cute boys if you just grew yourself a nice, big set of honkers.”_

_“His legs aren’t strong enough to carry a girly chest! He’d just fall over.”_

_“It’d make it easier for all those other glits to get what they’re looking for, though.”_

_There was a chorus of laughter. One of the boys smacked the young ‘Link’ on his rear, and he winced. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. Jumper wanted to stop them, but he didn’t know how._

_“Hey, why aren’t you fighting back?”_

_“Didn’t you used to act all big and tough? Where’s your sword, glitty?”_

_“Link!”_

_Jumper turned in surprise, seeing Ravio approach from the opposite direction. He was young, too--unsettlingly so, for Jumper at least._

_“Isn’t that…”_

_“That’s the Lorulean!”_

_“Run!”_

_The bullies scattered, and Link stared at Ravio in disbelief._

_“I’m not really sure what ‘glitty’ means, but it didn’t sound good,” Ravio explained, already seeming embarrassed himself._

_Link cast a glance aside, and Ravio sighed._

_“Awful of them to pick on someone they know can’t talk back.”_

_Link jumped in surprise when Ravio’s fingers touched his wrist. The boy’s hand was shaking, but he seemed to be determined to weave his fingers into Link’s. As their hands joined, Link stared at Ravio. Jumper could see a hesitant kind of hope flood Link’s face._

_“U-um…” Ravio bit his lip. “I heard… Hylians like sweets?”_

_Link nodded._

_“Oh, good! Uh… w-would that… help you feel better? If I, um… took you t-to get some?”_

_Jumper saw Link’s eyes widen, and then his face turn red._

_“Oh! Was that wrong?! I didn’t--”_

_Ravio stopped talking when Link put his hand over his mouth. He looked down at the arm in front of him, and then up at Link’s still-red, but amused face. Link took his arm back, and Jumper watched him tug Ravio gently in the direction of Kakariko._

_For a few minutes after they left, Jumper stared at the trees behind the path, wondering whether this was why Link and Zelda both trusted the Lorulean so much._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
I finally got the rest of what was supposed to be Chapter 9 uploaded! There's a lot going on, and the next chapter will explain a lot of the confusing content here.  
I got a question about Ravio's change in personality... this might begin to explain it, if you were wondering. :)  
Comments and suggestions always welcome!


	11. as loud as my heart

Jumper felt foggy.

“...per?”

What?

“Jumper?”

He sat up slowly, trying not to jar his head too much. He had only just woken up, but he felt like he might pass out.

“Hey. You feeling okay?”

That voice… Ravio?

“You didn’t really take that vision too well…”

Jumper shrugged weakly. He remembered the panic he felt when he saw himself burning, but it almost seemed like the emotions had locked themselves away.

Having calmed down significantly, he blinked his eyes open and locked onto Ravio. The poor man looked worried out of his mind, sitting on a lavish chair as if he could jump out any second to help Jumper. A quick glance around the rest of the room confirmed that it was similarly expensive in taste. He was still in the castle?

“We saw the vision, too. Link and Zelda are working together right now, trying to figure out what actually happened to you.”

Jumper nodded and looked down at his hands. They were healed, but he knew they were burnt to a crisp.

“It makes me wish… that someone could hear you. Anyone.” Ravio sighed heavily. “Helping Link communicate was a little easier. We made up this dictionary of signs and words, and we wrote down what each sign meant so that if he forgot, he could just flip through the pages and find it. He studied for hours at a time, memorizing… but we can’t do that for you. You can’t read what we write, can you?”

Jumper made no gestures in response. He was afraid to look at Ravio and see the sadness in his eyes.

“I don’t understand why the gods would give you that pearl and let you travel between worlds, but not give you a single word to communicate with anyone else.”

Because he wasn’t supposed to communicate. He wasn’t supposed to open his eyes. He was a corpse walking.

Link was different, Jumper knew that. Link was the one who found his voice again, who stood up straight as he made his life more full and happy. Link was the one who got sweets, and who owned a house all for himself and his gorgeous… whatever he would call Ravio.

That second vision made Jumper think long and hard about what it meant for Link and Ravio to love each other. “Glitty”. Jumper didn’t know if love between men was normal in this world, but those bullies seemed to think it wasn’t. That was the kind of thing that made Jumper afraid; it was the threat that made him resign himself to an absence of joy. Link would have Ravio, and Jumper would shrivel up and drift away with the ashes. Maybe his remains would mingle with Poa’s, and Entu would have what he wanted after all.

‘I-A-M-L-O-N-E-L-Y’

Ravio’s attention snapped to Jumper’s tapping, but Jumper knew he didn’t understand. It was a confession in silence, a way to say what he couldn’t tell anyone else.

‘I-A-M-B-U-R-N-I-N-G’

Burning in his own skin. Burning on the outside. He was on fire.

“You’re spelling things,” Ravio realized. “You’re tapping out letters, aren’t you?!”

Jumper’s eyes widened.

“The taps and pauses, I knew I was right! Jumper!” he gasped. “The whole problem between languages is the writing, but you have this… tapping thing! It’s universal!”

Ravio glanced around as if to search for something. He saw a book on a nearby shelf with pages falling out, and he grabbed it and took it to Jumper’s bedside. He grabbed an inkwell and quill from a desk and poised himself to write. The disregard for the book's original material shocked Jumper, but not quite so much as Ravio suddenly opening a channel of communication that didn't depend on the slow process of learning and repeating gestures.

"Okay, um… Spell out 'Jumper'," Ravio said. His voice sounded the way anxious butterflies felt.

'J-U-M-P-E-R'

Jumper watched Ravio scrawl out tally-marks, then hesitate. "Wait. Do that again?"

Jumper repeated his name, and Ravio scribbled over everything he'd already written.

"The tapping. When you hold your finger down longer, that's different than just a quick tap, right?"

Jumper nodded quickly, and Ravio flipped a page to start over.

"Okay. One more time."

Jumper tapped again, and Ravio recorded every letter in a series of tallies and dots.

“Okay. I think I got it… Does this sound right?”

Jumper watched Ravio’s finger as it carefully tapped out ‘J… U… M-P… E… R’

Ravio’s stuttering recreation of Jumper’s taps stunned him completely.

      
_Liria smiled._  


“Well?”

Jumper nodded again, grinning.

“Good. Great! Um, Link’s name!”

‘L-I-N-K’

More scribbling.

‘L… I… N-K’

Ravio’s face lit up when Jumper confirmed he had repeated the same letters. “And Zelda, you recognized her, right? You know how to spell her name?”

‘Z-E-L-D-A’

Ravio wrote the name down quickly, then stopped.

“Wait. Hold on, Jumper… Holy Lo, _Jumper!_”

He leapt to his feet and waved the ruined book in the air. “It was just the letters! When you were spelling those words, I thought we’d have to learn them all one by one, but _the words are spelled the same way!_ Aren’t they?! The second letter in Zelda’s name, isn’t it the second-to-last in yours?”

Jumper paused, then nodded eagerly. He slid out of the bed and rushed to Ravio’s side, headache forgotten. The inkwell was sitting on the floor next to them, in danger of being knocked over--Jumper grabbed the book and quill from Ravio, and then the inkwell off the floor, to quickly draw out the letters below each of Ravio’s rushed diagrams.

“Yes. Yes!” Ravio pointed to the first letter in ‘Link’ and the second in ‘Zelda’. “Those are the same, too! This all makes sense!”

Jumper laughed silently. After so long without words, the only thing separating him from everyone here was a written alphabet.

“Okay, uh--well, hang on, I don’t know if your alphabet is in the same order as ours… All right, let’s try this, then! Spell out ‘apple’.”

Ravio was using words to assemble a list of Jumper’s letters. He was trying to understand, trying to listen, and Jumper was more than happy to provide his series of tapping. Maybe the skin on the very tips of his fingers, thumping against the wall, wasn’t burnt.

* * *

Zelda startled when the door to the library slammed against the wall, and Jumper could read the confusion in her face--and then the shock when she noticed the book Ravio had in his hands.

“Jumper can explain what happened,” Ravio announced.

“What did you do to that poor volume?” Zelda asked.

“It’s a key. Watch. Jumper, say her name!”

Jumper reached for the door, and found himself amused by their expressions.

‘Z-E-L-D-A’

“Do you hear the letters? The separation?! He spells things the same way, just differently--I mean, he uses the same--but--oh, you understand!”

“Yeah, I do. Each set of taps and holds, that’s a letter, right?” Link stood up. “Jumper, what’s the name of that creature you ride?”

‘H-O-R-S-E’

“H… o… r… s… e. ‘Hor-say’?”

‘L-A-S-T-L-E-T-T-E-R-S-I-L-E-N-T’

Ravio groaned. “I can’t remember all those letters, Jumper. Zelda, can I have something to write on that isn’t your book? Sorry, by the way.”

She didn’t accept his apology, instead rolling her eyes--but she did grab a roll of parchment for him. He took it eagerly, spread it on the table that she and Link had been studying at, and then poised himself to write.

“Okay. Uh, now that I can write this out, I’ll be able to understand a lot more. So, if you don’t mind, Jumper… tell us how you got here.”

Jumper took a deep breath and started tapping away…

* * *

_Liria hated writing, and Link knew it. She loathed having to sit down with a piece of paper every time she wanted to speak, and she frowned every time she had to carefully draw out a letter. Link hadn’t had legible handwriting as a child, either, but he couldn’t imagine what it felt like for her to have to put so much effort into saying a word._

_He had the opposite problem. His ears, they worked far too well for his liking. He heard secrets, gossip, and every last word of ‘surprises’ people were planning. His hearing was a curse._

_However… this time around, he could finally make something useful of it._

_There was some kind of war going on, and Link knew plenty of Hyrule’s young men were out there fighting. All of that new technology led to communications, drifting through the air. The soldiers would use codes, messages with no inherent meaning but the definition that the soldiers themselves created--and one of those codes involved no words whatsoever._

_The beeping was inconsistent, and that was how Link recognized that it meant something more complex than it seemed. Short signals, and long signals, and pauses. Maybe the beeping meant… letters?_

_The day that that thought occurred to Link, he sat down with a sheet of paper and made up a new alphabet for Liria. It was different from the soldiers’, probably, but the thing that mattered was that Liria could speak with her fingers instead of carrying chalk and a slate for the rest of her life._

_It was the evening when Link knocked on Limm’s door, holding the page in both hands like a priceless treasure. He explained his plan in soft words, expecting resistance from the girl’s father; after all, he had hardly let anyone see Liria outside of sending her to the tiny school in the next village over in the hopes that she could do “somethin’ besides relyin’ on me.”_

_Once Link had showed Limm the workings of Liria’s new alphabet, he met Limm’s eyes and only found a shocking amount of hope._

_“Yer not thinkin’ straight,” Limm sighed, “but if ya truly believe Liria’s got the mind to spell with’er hands, then you c’n damn well give it a try.”_

_Link knew Limm wanted him to be right, too, and it was with that in mind that he handed Liria his carefully-written lesson on what she called “the finger letters”. As she read over Link’s words, he saw her brown eyes light up brighter than the gas lamp in the corner of the room, and suddenly he cursed himself for ever wishing he was born with different ears._

* * *

Ravio set down the quill and scanned over the letters he’d scrawled out.

“You don’t remember burning?”

‘N-O’

“And… the pearl took you to the era of the Hero of Time.”

Jumper saw Zelda go stiff. He nodded to Ravio, wondering silently why that title threw the Princess off so much.

“Specifically, to the ranch that gave the Hero his… horse, and thank you for telling me how to pronounce that--Epona?”

“You didn’t meet the Hero himself, did you?” Zelda interrupted.

‘N-O’

“He says no,” Ravio translated. “Hold on, though--I think I know what’s going on here.”

Ravio stood up and faced Jumper with a kind of determination that scared him to death.

“This pearl thing, it’s sending you to different times and places, right? The gods didn’t speak to you, but typically, when they intervene, they’ve got a good reason for it. You threw yourself into the fire, and you found the pearl. The fire started because of the war in Hyrule, right?”

Jumper nodded, and Ravio gave him a solemn nod back.

“Then I believe this pearl could’ve decided to send you to a time and place to prepare for the end of your mission.”

“Mission like… saving Hyrule?” Link asked from the opposite end of the room. “So the pearl took him away from his time and place to give him a chance at being prepared to face the enemy?”

“That’s exactly it,” Ravio answered. “You were out of time, Jumper, and this pearl gave you a second chance to be the hero.”

“But how would he prepare? He hardly knows where to begin,” Zelda pointed out.

“It’s a good thing I do.”

Ravio backed away from Jumper. “Link, do you remember the day Sheerow disappeared?”

“Yeah, you were really upset. You wouldn’t stop searching for him for a week.”

“And do you remember the only other times Sheerow left my side?”

“Of course, to…” Link’s eyes moved to Jumper, adopting a new depth of thought. “...to bring you back items.”

“Exactly!” Ravio clapped his hands. “Jumper, I have a particularly close companion who greatly enjoys making sure that certain useful items stay in my possession. He’s been known to cross boundaries between worlds to make sure they return to me. Maybe--just maybe--the same way Janus knew you were on your way, Sheerow did, too!”

Link gasped. “Sheerow’s out there trying to bring things back for you, Jumper!”

“But by the looks of things, he’s having some trouble…”

Ravio ran to one of the shelves and started carelessly rifling through documents, much to Zelda’s irritation. She stood and pulled him away from the shelf.

“Wha--?! Zelda, are you kidding me?!”

“What is it you’re looking for in the process of destroying priceless records, Ravio?”

“A map!”

Link rolled his eyes and pulled one out of his pocket, then held it out to Ravio.

“You still carry that thing?” Ravio asked, yanking it away.

“Yes. Do you want to get lost everywhere we go?”

“Not particularly!” Ravio held up the map to Jumper. “Sheerow would’ve caused slight changes in the boundaries between worlds by traveling the way he did. I haven’t been looking for them, but now that we know, we can go out and find each of the disturbances for you! We’ll mark them on a map and everything!”

Jumper approached the table and moved Ravio’s book to the center of his vision.

‘T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U’

Ravio took a second to comprehend it, then glanced between Link and Jumper. There was that fire in his eyes again, the type of fire that Jumper knew from his second vision was something Ravio learned out of necessity.

“You’re meant to save Hyrule, and if I can help the hero, that’s what I’ll do. Zelda, we might be back later--until then, thanks for your help! And I’ll pay for that book.”

“It’s centuries old!”

“Whoops,” Ravio called, already leading Link and Jumper out of the room. Jumper heard her indignant scoff just before the door shut, and it made him smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
So, this chapter's a decent length again. Semester's over, and I'm finally getting back into the groove of things!  
We're also (finally) seeing some direction to Jumper's journey. Figuring things out, going on a quest! There'll be more action scenes coming up soon.  
Comments always welcome!


	12. staring back

Link and Ravio were speaking nonsense to each other--at least, that’s how it sounded to Jumper.

“There was that one house with the Cuccoos--”

“Yeah, but what about that other cliff--”

“Which cliff?!”

They were holding the map, one side in Link’s hand and one side in Ravio’s, and occasionally pointing at various places. Jumper couldn’t make out what part of Hyrule they were actually in, or where they were going--if this was Link’s map, then he was the one who had written or drawn over more space than he left blank.

After a couple more minutes of arguing without moving a single step, Jumper grabbed Ravio’s arm. Just as he expected, Ravio cut himself off to pay attention to Jumper.

‘P-L-E-A-S-E-E-X-P-L-A-I-N’

Ravio glanced down at his key--he’d written it onto his sleeve, much to Link’s chagrin. “Oh. Right, I’m sorry! Back when Link was saving Hyrule, he had to travel through a bunch of portals between here and Lorule. Those portals are actually the only reason we met. Unfortunate circumstances, but it all worked out in the end.”

Ravio pointed at a particular spot on the map, marked with a goofy drawing of a rabbit.

“This is where we are right now--our house…” He dragged his finger slightly downwards. “...and this was where one of those portals was. Thing is, as far as we can tell, there wasn’t a weak spot there. Link and I were trying to decide where to head next--which spots had portals before, that weren’t in places that people go very often, because we definitely would’ve heard about it if there was an abnormal spot in Kakariko or something.”

“Of course, that’s assuming that the weak spots even correlate with the Lorule portals,” Link sighed. “We don’t have much to go on.”

Jumper nodded slowly, trying to sort out his thoughts. If he had made it here, it would’ve been through one of these “weak spots”. Wouldn’t it? So when he traveled between worlds, what was the common tie? Maybe something that they all had in common would help pinpoint the places they were looking for.

“Jumper, you’re kind of spacing out. What’s on your mind?” Link asked.

Jumper grabbed Link’s arm this time. Link looked startled, but Ravio simply held out his arm so Link could see the key. Since Link hadn’t really “listened” to Jumper much, Jumper was careful to tap more slowly.

‘I--H--A--V--E--G--O--N--E--P--L--A--C--E--S’

Jumper ended by leaving two fingers on Link’s arm, a signal that he still had more to say but was waiting for Link to process what he’d already given him. 

“You’ve gone places… Vague, but continue.”

‘M--A--Y--B--E--T--H--R--O--U--G--H--W--E--A--K--S--P--O--T--S’

“Oh. Oh! You’re right, it could be… no, it’s _definitely_ gonna be similar!” Link clapped his hands together. “So now we need a common factor.”

Jumper nodded and pulled his hand back, going back to his thoughts.

The first jump he’d made was into the fire… and that sent him to the place in the sky, where he found the pearl. And then he’d gone to Malon.

The next time, he’d left to find Link and Ravio, but only after Malon gave Janus to him--and that was because of their connection, and because she’d raised Epona. The vision he had about the two horses--

Visions. Visions! Did the scene with the pearl count as a vision? Maybe so, considering his burning body. And he didn’t directly have a vision when he traveled to Link and Ravio, but he did see the horses right before--and Janus was his key to moving on! What visions had he had after arriving here?

The forest… and that scene with a younger Link and Ravio. Why else would he have seen it, if not to show him the place he needed to go next?

He suddenly grabbed Ravio again.

‘V-I-S-I-O-N-S’

“Visions? Have you had more than just the one at the castle?”

Jumper nodded enthusiastically.

‘T-H-E-Y-S-H-O-W-M-E-W-H-E-R-E-I-N-E-E-D-T-O-G-O-N-E-X-T’

“They show you where to go!” Ravio repeated for Link’s benefit, and grinned. “That’s amazing! So, we need to induce a vision?”

‘A-L-R-E-A-D-Y-H-A-D-O-N-E’

“You already had one?” Ravio repeated in confusion.

“Why wouldn’t you tell us?” Link asked.

‘D-I-D-N-O-T-U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D’

“What didn’t you understand?”

Jumper sighed and moved his hand to Link again.

‘Y--O--U--W--E--R--E--Y--O--U--N--G’

“I was young. Okay, and what else?”

Jumper hesitated.

‘G--L--I--T--T--Y’

Link drew in a sharp breath. “Oh.”

“What?” Ravio asked.

“He saw… well, he saw the people who made fun of me. Jumper, what else did you see?”

‘R--A--V--I--O--S--A--V--E--D--Y--O--U’

Link looked over at Ravio. “The day you stepped in. The first time I’d seen you since… well, everything that happened. I didn’t even know you were in Hyrule.”

“Jumper, that was years ago, before Link found his voice again. I’m not sure why you saw that vision…”

Jumper bit his lip. He had a sneaking suspicion, but it took guts to confirm it.

‘W--H--A--T--I--S--G--L--I--T--T--Y’

Link looked Jumper in the eyes and grabbed his hand. “It’s a horrible word people use for… people like Ravio and me. Men who love other men.”

Jumper started to tap, but stopped before he even finished a letter. He took a deep breath in.

This was important. This could be vital to the journey.

Ravio was watching him with wide eyes, sparkling green gems in the light.

‘I--D--O--T--O--O’

As soon as he’d finished the last letter, Jumper buried his face in his hands to avoid eye contact.

He’d finally confessed. After years of dreading the idea of marriage, of worrying over letting Entu down, it took coming to see Ravio and Link for him to realize for himself that it wasn’t just a lack of love. No, he had plenty of love, but it was all in the wrong direction. And over the past few days, the way his heart pulled in Ravio’s direction became impossible for him to stow away.

The kindness, the love, the pure light in Ravio’s eyes when they finally made contact through Jumper’s spelling--it all crashed into him again, and he cringed back from nothing. His thoughts flew wild circles in his head. He’d said it. It was _real_. Jumper loved men.

“Jumper.”

He felt hands close around his wrists in a very gentle grip, and guide them carefully away from his face. Link was looking at him, but only in concern and care.

“Is this the first time you’ve told someone?”

He nodded, looking down at the ground.

“Hey.”

Link tilted Jumper’s chin back up, cueing him to look Link in the eyes again.

“That takes a lot of courage, you know. It’s pretty scary to say it out loud, huh? I mean, I guess it wasn’t really out loud, but to admit it--it’s a lot.”

“Is that why you were so awkward around us at first?” Ravio asked.

Jumper started to nod, but then paused. He grabbed Ravio’s arm before he could convince himself not to.

‘Y-O-U-A-R-E-C-U-T-E’

Ravio looked up from his key, now clearly amused. “You and Link really do have a lot in common, huh?”

“What?” Link asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just Jumper being a _prude_ like you.” Ravio winked at Jumper. “We’re proud of you, you know!”

Link smiled at them. “As much as I’d love to sit around and talk with Jumper about what he should look for in a guy, I think that vision must’ve meant something more than just ‘hey, tell Link and Ravio you’re into men’.”

“Didn’t you mention that you saw something from your own childhood when you found Janus?” Ravio asked. “So the way you traveled, it linked back to you.”

“And now that we know you’re into guys, it probably has to do with us--or with the place you saw us in. Where was that?” Link finished, turning to look at Ravio.

“I found you on the road, we went to a candy shop in Kakariko on our first date.”

“Yes, but _where?_”

Jumper tapped two fingers on Ravio, calling his attention.

‘T-R-E-E-S’

“There were trees, okay. So that would be either near the house, or way up northwest.”

Jumper went stiff when he felt something ring through his mind.

‘S-A-H-A-S-R-A-H-L-A’

“...What?”

“Ravio, you look completely lost.”

“I kind of am!” Ravio sighed. “He just spat out a bunch of letters, and if I said it out loud it would sound like I’m imitating a snake or something!”

“Wait. Sahasrahla?” Link asked.

There were so many things in Jumper’s head--words, things he had to convey to Link and Ravio. Explosions of information, most of which he didn’t understand.

‘W-I-S-E-M-E-N’

“What ‘wise men’?” Ravio asked.

‘A-G-A-H-N-I-M’

“...Agahnim. Link, you recognized the first word, what about this stuff?”

“No idea. Maybe Sahasrahla knows.”

“Okay, so we should go talk to him, right? Whoever he is.”

“It’s a long story.” Link sighed. “He lives north of Kakariko, though--we’ll pay him a visit.”

‘N-E-E-D-J-A-N-U-S’

“All right, we’ll take Janus along,” Ravio agreed.

“Just… be prepared. If Sahasrahla is involved, then this is serious,” Link said.

* * *

Jumper shouldn’t have been surprised when Sahasrahla said the exact same thing, more or less.

“This is quite the concerning issue,” Sahasrahla said, “especially considering the rather _condensed_ version of this boy’s story that you’ve given me.”

Link nodded. “I was worried you’d say that.”

“Yes, I must admit, I was not prepared to hear the dark wizard’s name again. Not after such a long time…”

“What do you mean?” Ravio asked.

“Link, you are aware that there have been other heroes before you, are you not?”

Link nodded.

“I was alive to see your predecessor. You’re the spitting image of that young man, aside from a few minor details… ah, but I digress. You see, back then, we knew almost nothing concerning Lorule. We merely called it the “Dark World”. This other Link visited the Dark World often, through a magic mirror--yet another method of traveling between worlds.”

“Wait--you can travel back and forth without physical portals?” Ravio asked.

“That is what this boy has been doing with his pearl, is it not?”

“Well, yeah, but he had to be in certain places--”

“Allow me to correct you: he had to meet certain _conditions_. Many magical items work in this manner.”

“What do you mean?” Link asked. “It works, or it doesn’t.”

“Did you not travel through Hyrule with the aid of a young witch?”

“...Yeah?”

“And did you not summon her with a bell?”

“I did. Where is this going?”

“Well, were you able to summon her only by holding the bell?”

Link raised an eyebrow. “No, I had to ring it. How would it work if I just held it?”

“And how would this pearl take your descendant to the correct time and place if he could travel simply by holding it in his hand?”

Link opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it.

“It is possible that this correlation you seek between travels and locations is rather inaccurate. Perhaps other associations would be the true indicators of how, exactly, this pearl works.”

Ravio groaned. “I hate all of this wordy ‘prophecy’ and ‘wisdom’--just say what you mean!”

“Jumper seems to have told you that he visited Malon’s ranch to obtain this horse--a gorgeous creature, by the way. However, I’m certain that wasn’t his intention upon arriving.”

“Well… probably not,” Link said, glancing over to see Jumper nod in agreement.

Sahasrahla met Jumper’s eyes. “But you saw a horse from your own childhood in the stables with Janus.”

Jumper nodded again.

“And I would imagine some other element of your own life played into your arrival here?”

Link, Ravio, and Jumper all met eyes with each other in turn--then seemed to quickly reach the conclusion that Jumper wasn’t going to disclose his attraction again, which brought immense relief to Jumper himself.

“Yes, but it’s pretty complicated,” Link said.

“And that would make sense. However, your guess with Sheerow…”

Sahasrahla hummed and started to pace the room. He didn’t seem too confused; it almost looked like he just needed to find the right words, or sort his thoughts into coherency in the first place.

“It could be that the portals Sheerow opens are disturbances between worlds, but not physically bound. Whatever caused Jumper to hear the name of Agahnim, it must’ve come from such a disturbance--one which he can only access through this particular world.”

Sahasrahla took in their confused expressions before he continued.

“Jumper, as he was on arrival, had no connection strong enough to take him to the past Hyrule I speak of. No, he had to arrive here and develop a stronger connection with the concept of Lorule, and with this particular lay of the land--and being here is amplifying what ties he had to the point that he can now access this previous version of Hyrule.”

Link frowned, but it started to lift as he considered what Sahasrahla had said. “So, it’s like a temple or sanctuary, or something like that. Jumper’s previous life was one room, but even though there are adjacent rooms, he has to advance through other rooms to find the right doorways?”

“An odd metaphor, but accurate nonetheless. Jumper is inherently tied to all other incarnations of himself; he need only find ‘access points’.”

“Which don’t really need to be physical,” Ravio repeated, “he just needs to find out _how_ they work. Or what’ll make them work, anyways.”

“A magic mirror, a magic bell, a magic pearl--all unique, all with their own laws.”

Sahasrahla reached for a bookshelf--pushed all of the books aside, and slid back a panel on the wall. He retrieved a small hand mirror and held it out to Jumper.

“Link’s magic mirror.” Sahasrahla’s beard hid his smile, but his eyes crinkled enough to tell Jumper it was there. “If you are indeed meant to visit the past, this item may help you find the path there; if not that, then it will certainly prove useful while you are there.”

Jumper carefully took it in his hands. By instinct, he looked into the glass.

His vision started to swim, and then faded to white. Within moments, he was standing in a dark echo of Sahasrahla’s home, vacant and cold.

Didn’t Sahasrahla say this mirror was a portal to Lorule? Oh, gods, he was in _hell._

“Jumper?!”

Jumper’s head snapped up to look around, but Ravio wasn’t anywhere in sight.

“Hey, if you can hear me, look into that mirror again!”

Jumper looked down, and his eyes betrayed him again… and then he was back in the room with Sahasrahla, Link, and Ravio.

“And there is one path.” Sahasrahla chuckled. “However, I believe that reaching your destination will require more than just the mirror. Let’s all step outside.”

The group moved outside, and Jumper glanced over at Janus. For the first time since their arrival, Janus looked incredibly upset--just the way he’d reportedly behaved for Malon before Jumper met him.

“Mount your horse.”

Jumper obediently climbed on, and Janus calmed down.

“Now, hold the pearl in one hand, and the mirror in the other.”

This was exactly how he’d traveled last time. Holding the pearl alone didn’t work--he had to be on Janus’s back. Sahasrahla’s words were making more and more sense.

Jumper paused and glanced over Ravio and Link. He’d had to leave Malon behind, and now he was going to be leaving these two as well. If they were wrong about this whole Sheerow thing…

“You’ll come back,” Ravio said softly.

Jumper reached down and closed his hand loosely on Ravio’s arm.

‘W-I-T-H-M-O-N-E-Y-F-O-R-C-L-O-T-H-E-S’

“You know Link won’t accept it,” Ravio laughed.

“Accept what?”

Jumper let go of Ravio and sat up straight. He watched them bicker for a few seconds… watched how close they were, and remembered the two scared boys on the road.

He reached into the folds of the red tunic--stowed safely away in a leather bag, courtesy of Link--and pulled out the pearl.

Red.

And, with one more glance over everyone’s smiles, he closed his hand around the mirror…

* * *

Jumper dropped the pearl again, but saved it in a fistful of fabric before it left Janus’s back. He quickly made a resolution to buy a pair of gloves the next time he got a chance. Would holding the pearl through a glove even count? Maybe--

“KAYEEEEEAAH!”

Jumper whirled around to see a crowd of very angry-looking green creatures rushing at him, clubs in the air, and that was all he took in before Janus fled the scene--leaving Jumper on the ground, unarmed and alone.

It was probably a good thing he couldn’t make enough sound to say all of the words he was thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
A few things to note:  
1) I will never forget how to spell Sahasrahla now.  
2) You'll have to forgive a few mistakes here and there--I don't have a beta reader. It's just me and my laptop :)  
3) Shut up, I'm 45 minutes into Tuesday, I know!  
That said, comments and feedback are always welcome.  
I hope you've all been having a good holiday season, or at least passable, and that bright things are in your future!


	13. watching over us

_This is it. This is how I die._

Jumper curled up on himself, clutching Sahasrahla’s gifted mirror and the fabric of the shirt Link had bought him in a pair of white-knuckled grips. Why would the ambiguous ‘gods’ set him on this mission and then immediately kill him?!

Suddenly, air ruffled Jumper’s hair, and he heard something skid in the grass. He hesitantly looked up, just in time to see a pair of red boots hop into the air--and then to feel another rush of air, timed with a flurry of glittering light past his eyes. He shielded his face again, eyes shutting only to see blue spots against his eyelids.

“Are you okay?”

Jumper hesitantly uncovered one eye, only to see a few gemstones lying around. He looked up in confusion--oh, but that was why.

Above him stood a boy, the spitting image of Ravio’s Link--right down to the hairstyle. The one exception was that this new boy’s hair was a pastel shade of pink, which was startling, but it didn’t necessarily look bad.

The point was that Jumper had stumbled across, presumably, another one of these multiple heroes. He was looking right at another Link, which meant he’d soon be able to find this Sheerow that Ravio had sent him after.

“Well? I don’t have all day, you know.”

The boy’s accent was… interesting, to say the least.

Jumper sat up straight and pointed to his throat, giving Link a weak shrug.

“Ah, just my luck. A _mute._ Well, I’m going to assume you’re all right, and go on my way, if that’s all right.”

Jumper pushed himself to his feet and grabbed Link’s hand. To his surprise, Link pushed him away.

“What’s your problem, then? Didn’t anyone ever let you know that that’s rude?”

Jumper huffed a frustrated sigh and held out the mirror, hoping that this was in fact the Link that Sahasrahla had told him about--and that this mirror would mean something to him.

Sure enough, the sight made Link’s eyes widen. “Hey, how did you get your hands on that?! I saved your life just now, and you went and picked my pockets!”

Link grabbed Jumper by the wrist, apparently keeping him in place.

“I’m going to figure out what else you took,” Link said. His tone was incredibly harsh. “No-good criminals, and after all I’ve done…”

However, when the boy opened up the pouch on his hip, his hand froze in place. Jumper heard his breath catch.

“How..?”

He pulled out the same mirror Jumper was holding, and glanced over it. After confirming for himself that it was, in fact, his mirror, he reached out and grabbed Jumper’s.

And then, with a dramatic pulse of light, both of them flew in different directions. 

The mirrors stayed in the same spot, but once they were free of Link’s hands, they fell to the ground. The moment had passed, and they appeared harmless again.

“Ow! Dear gods, what was that for?!”

Link stood up and made his way back to the mirrors. He was smart enough not to touch them again, but he looked over both of them with a careful eye.

“This one, here on the left… it’s old. I mean, I suppose they both are, seeing as it’s an ancient artifact, but… it’s _older._ But it’s the same mirror…”

Link looked back at Jumper, who was sitting on the ground once again.

“Who _are_ you?”

Jumper searched his memory--he knew he remembered it, he just needed to jog his memory--and there it was.

He reached over and outlined their name in the dirt, in the language Link and Ravio had taught him--hopefully, it was the same. “Link”.

This new Link’s eyes just about popped out of his head, and he grabbed the mirror he had decided wasn’t quite as old and stashed it away. “No. No, no, no, no _way_ are you and I… you’re not me!”

Jumper opened his mouth--gods, he had to stop doing that, he knew he couldn’t speak--and then slammed it shut. He yanked up his sleeve instead, incredibly thankful now that he and Ravio had written out an extra key in their haste to translate Jumper’s language.

He held out his arm in front of the new Link and slowly tapped out letters on the side of the mirror in Link’s hand, hoping Link would catch on fairly quickly.

‘P--E--N--A--N--D--P--A--P--E--R’

Link stared at Jumper’s arm for only a moment longer than it took for him to finish the last mirror against the aged metal. Then--

“Oh! Oh, yeah, all right, I’ll, er--come with me, all right? But pick up that mirror! You can’t leave a portal to the Dark World just lying on the ground, that’s a recipe for disaster, you know!”

Jumper nodded and grabbed the mirror, then started to follow--then stopped and whistled.

Janus came running, and when Link drew his sword against the animal, Jumper only put his hand out in front of Link. It seemed to get the message across well enough.

“This thing is yours?” Link asked.

Jumper nodded. He smiled at Janus, who was currently staring curiously at yet another Link.

“Well… you can bring it along, but don’t let it kill me or anything.”

Janus let out an indignant snort, just as Jumper frowned. Still, they followed Link as he led them away from the apparently-forgotten gemstones and towards someplace new.

* * *

“Oh. My gods.”

Jumper watched from a seat at a table as Link paced his house, one that bore striking similarities to Link and Ravio’s. He’d worked himself into a near-panic over the story Jumper had written out for him, carefully, using his own translation key in reverse.

“The _future?_”

Jumper hadn’t mentioned the fire, or the more personal discovery he’d made in the previous world. He figured that all Link would need to know was that Jumper was on a journey, just like other Links had been, and that he was searching for someone or something named Sheerow so that he could continue on his way. He had included the fact that he’d spent time with a future Link, purely for context--but this seemed to be what this Link was hung up on.

“I thought you were supposed to be a future me, or-or something, not a, a _reincarnation!_”

Jumper nodded tiredly. Link had been going on like this for longer than was strictly necessary.

“So, wait.”

This was the first time Link had actually addressed Jumper since reading the story, and Jumper stared back expectantly.

“If you’re Link… but he was Link, too… then does that mean that it just keeps going?! How many Links are there in the future?!”

Jumper shrugged, then thought better of his minimal answer and carefully wrote more on the paper. Link stopped pacing and approached the table Jumper was sitting at to read the new information.

“What do you mean, history books with the Royal Family?! No one’s ever told me anything about any other Links! Wait--history, you said--so I’m not the first one, and _no one told me that?!_”

Jumper shrugged again, more sympathetically. After all, he was sort of in the same boat.

“Oh, gods! This is such a mess.” Link groaned. “Ugh, I should have known you were from a different time period, no one in Hyrule would be caught dead wearing that outfit.”

Jumper rolled his eyes, because evidently this Link and Ravio’s Link had a lot more in common than he’d originally anticipated.

“Okay. Okay, I’ve got to calm down,” Link told himself. “All right… um, you said you’re looking for a ‘Sheerow’? Can you describe it to me?”

Jumper explained on paper that Ravio and Link had both failed to mention what Sheerow was, just that he was a living thing that went searching for items. It was frustrating, but Jumper hadn’t thought to ask.

“Oh, dear. That’s quite useless. Although…”

Link took a few steps into pacing again, but then whirled around.

“Monsters! Of course! When you appeared here, there were monsters. Moblins, I believe, but sort of different. Gods, and you were totally dead weight.”

Link saw Jumper’s face contort again, but he seemed to reroute before he could be bothered to apologize.

“But what matters is that there aren’t any monsters anywhere else in Hyrule right now. It’s just the one spot, sort of… northwest. For a few days now. Is that because of you? Did you bring them here? Well, probably not on purpose, they did get here before you…” Link trailed off, nearly too quiet for Jumper to hear, as he started pacing again.

“No!” Link burst out again. “That doesn’t matter! Regardless of _why_ they’re here, of _course_ it’s suspicious for them to all gather in one place! And seeing as it’s the only concerning thing happening in this country right now, it’s likely going to be the best place to start if we’re looking for anything abnormal. So whoever, or whatever, Sheerow is… we’ll find him if we chase the monsters.”

Jumper must’ve looked terrified, because Link halted his speeding train of thought.

“Right. You don’t seem to have any weapons on you. The lack of preparation is disgusting, but thankfully, I’ve got the means to help you out. Do you prefer a sword? Bow? I don’t know, a spear?”

Jumper stared back at him.

“You don’t mean to tell me you’ve never--and the gods want you to be a hero?! Unacceptable! You couldn’t save the country if you were a god yourself, you’re a sorry excuse for a man and I’m giving you this sword. You’ve got a small frame, the weight might not be fantastic but it’ll be acceptable at least.”

Link handed Jumper a sword. An actual _sword._ Was he supposed to know how to use this thing?! He held it uncertainly by the hilt.

“You don’t--oh, of _course_ you don’t, why would you, why would this be easy?” Link groaned. “All right. Outside, right now, I’m teaching you how to use this thing.”

Before Jumper knew what was happening, he was being shoved out the door and into the grass in front of Link’s house.

“Okay. Are you left-handed like me?”

Jumper nodded.

“Then hold the sword with your left hand. Wrap it around like… yeah, there you go!”

Jumper stared down at the sword in his hand, unsure that he understood what he’d done correctly. He was holding it in one hand, but the tip of the blade was resting on the ground.

“All right. Now, I want you to swing it from left to right.”

Jumper lifted the blade up and did his best to swing it in the direction he was told.

“Oh, that was awful! Far too much in the wrist. Move it back! All you’ll do with that is sprain your wrist, and then you won’t be of much use to anyone. Propel it. You can’t run by only bending your ankles, you need leverage--same goes for this sword!”

Jumper took a deep breath and focused on keeping the movement further back. Leverage, Link had said.

Before he knew what he was doing, he managed to execute an even, quick slice through the air. All of the power came from his shoulder, but he controlled some of the swing with his elbow, and it made a very satisfying noise as the blade cut the air.

“That was _beautiful!_” Link shouted. “Do you even realize how long it would take a normal person to do that?! By the gods, you really are tied to legendary swordsmen!”

Despite the fact that Link’s words wildly oscillated between praise and disgust, Jumper found himself taking pride in this compliment. He’d pretty much been physically thrown into this situation, but hearing that he wasn’t completely failing was good.

“Keep going! I want to see a vertical slice!”

Jumper swung his sword before he even had time to think about what ‘vertical slice’ meant--and it made Link cheer.

“Yes! Fantastic! I feel like you’re ready, we’re ready, all right? I want to go investigate those monsters!”

What?! After two correct motions with a sword, Link had made a very weighted decision. Jumper himself didn’t feel ready, but this other Link hadn’t really given him a choice.

“I recognize that look. You don’t think you’re cut out for this, then?”

Jumper fumbled for a way to reply, but Link’s concern quickly turned into a laugh.

“At least you’re not plastered all over “Wanted” posters. No one’s watching you but me.”

Jumper suddenly felt Link drag him back into the house. “You just watch. We’ll get you armed and ready, and you won’t even hesitate. It’s in your blood, I can see it.”

Jumper groaned internally--he could already tell that this Link would never slow down, not for a second. Without a voice, he could only stumble in Link’s footsteps.

And what was he going to do with a sword, anyways?! Did Link expect him to take on monsters like the ones that had paralyzed him with fear before? Jumper barely remembered how to grip the thing properly, let alone deal any damage with it. 

“Move faster!” Link urged. “No more dawdling, you’re a hero!”

* * *

_Link had heard Entu talking to Limm about this._

_“We don’t ever get excitement like this. It’s almost too much to take.”_

_Link wasn’t sure what was happening, exactly. Something about someone being too dangerous to be taken back to a larger city for some reason. He couldn’t ask, because he wasn’t supposed to be here. _

_Entu had told him to stay at home, to avoid coming outside to play. Link’s curiosity only grew stronger when he was told to stay away, and so he’d snuck out of the house to see what all the people were gathering for._

_Someone was making announcements, but Link couldn’t understand him for all the Karian villagers’ voices. So much for information. He’d just have to find a way to watch._

_He spun around a bit, looking for a good vantage point--and spotted a tower of crates at one of the market stalls. Perfect._

_His small hands, experienced from climbing trees, pulled him up from one layer of crates to the next. Once he finally got his feet on the top of the tower, he sat down on it, out of breath._

_He could see what everyone else could see, now. A man standing on a wooden platform, and a rope around his neck._

_“In the name of the King, we cast this criminal out of Hyrule for all time.”_

_The cracking noise that followed was almost as horrifying as the sight of the man’s new position, platform swept from under his feet._

_He should’ve stayed home after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience, guys.  
Not gonna lie, life's been a wreck recently, but I can't keep delaying "weekly" updates.  
For now, enjoy a new Link who could probably use some Adderall.  
Feedback welcome, as always!


	14. kill me twice

This new Link, with his vibrant pink hair, had really thrown Jumper off. The idea of rushing into a place that Link had openly told him was full of monsters, armed with a sword he still didn’t know how to use, was terrifying. More so than that, he was intimidated by the gear Link had shoved at him: sword, shield, something called an “ice rod”--when Jumper gave him a doubtful look, Link only said that using a fire rod in the forest was an idiotic idea, so this was what Jumper got. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly a helpful comment.

The clothes Jumper had arrived in were too weird in the new Link’s eyes, so he’d made Jumper take them off. The substitute? A tunic ripped straight out of the oldest paintings in Hyrule, and Jumper _really_ wished Link would let him wear pants.

“They’ll only get in the way. You’re fine.”

Pink Link was nothing like the Link before him… after him? All of this was already giving Jumper a headache, and if Ravio was to be believed, there would only be more where all of this came from.

It seemed like this boy had no regard for anyone else’s input. He was too busy chasing after his own sprinting thoughts to even begin to understand someone else’s opinions or experiences. That might actually make him the opposite of Ravio’s Link, who always seemed concerned over everyone he interacted with. He had a soft heart. Pink Link only had insane amounts of energy.

Jumper suddenly felt Pink Link yank him into the trees. Speaking of energy…

“Don’t look now, but there are _way_ more monsters in there than I expected,” Pink Link whispered. “Can’t give you a number. Well, maybe I could, but it would be an estimate at best. Well, I could probably count them all, but only if I climbed up in the trees, and no offense, but it’s your first day with these weapons and I don’t trust you to watch your own back. I’ve got a bow, but I can’t watch out for monsters if I’m busy counting other monsters. Make sense?”

Jumper nodded, because no other answer would reach Pink Link’s head. He understood, but he wished that the message could’ve come across in fewer words--especially since they were trying to stay hidden, and staying quiet usually went hand-in-hand with that.

“Okay. So, some of these guys have shields. Most of them. Hitting a shield only knocks them off-balance, so if you’re planning to actually attack, you need to avoid the shield. The good news is that they’re incredibly stupid, like, laughably idiotic. The bad news is that they’re huge and heavy enough to crush you if they step wrong. But the other good news is that they’ve got to be some faction of their own, since Ganon’s gone, and that means their leader’s also a monster and therefore just as moronic as all the others.”

Pink Link grabbed the “ice rod” he’d thrown into Jumper’s equipment and stuck it into Jumper’s hands. “You can’t take on more than maybe one or two at a time, at least, if you really haven’t done battle before. Keep an eye out. If they’re surrounding you, buy some time.”

Jumper didn’t understand how he was supposed to use it, but Pink Link was already peeking around the trees again. “On three, we wipe out their forces and look for any information at their camp. One, two, THREE!”

Pink Link burst forth from the trees, and engaged one of the monsters as if it were second nature to him. When the monster tried to push him over with its shield, he ducked and rolled to its side and stabbed it just below the ribs. No hesitation, no trouble. It bellowed in agony, but Link didn’t seem to care--he hopped backwards to avoid the monster’s next swing, wearing a smirk.

Jumper was torn away from watching Link do battle when something growled from behind him. He spun on one heel and stared straight into the eyes of one of the beastly creatures. It stared back, breathing heavy, dirty air in Jumper’s face in angry puffs.

      
_Flames crackled around him, and smoke tightened his chest. Did he want to be killed or burned? Die here in an attempt to escape, or die in the fire that took everyone he loved?_  


Jumper went flying to the side, shattering his reverie. The monster had knocked the breath out of him when it slammed into him with its shield.

Lying on the ground, he tried to bring air back into his lungs and formulate a plan. If--

The monster’s club narrowly missed Jumper’s leg, and it startled Jumper to a standing position. He didn’t have time to figure out how to fight!

Wait. _Ice rod?_

Jumper ducked under the monster’s clumsy swing of a club, then inexpertly flailed Link’s Ice Rod in its direction. He stumbled backwards from the surge of energy through the rod, but once he regained his footing, he realized that the monster was _frozen solid_ in a chunk of ice, summoned out of the blue.

How many magical items did this kid have?!

More monstrous voices approached, seeing first their frozen comrade and then the one responsible for his state. Jumper, with increasingly frantic swings of the arm, froze them all in turn. The feeling of the icy air blasting out of the rod was overwhelming, but it let him know that his tactic was working. Freeze. Freeze. Freeze.

Huh. The rod was getting kind of heavy.

Freeze. Freeze.

...Dizzy… why was Jumper…

He tried to use the Ice Rod one more time, but the cold blast was weak, and he saw the world spinning and rushing around him just before it all went black.

* * *

Jumper really was tired of waking up in other people’s beds. He felt like it was becoming an unfavorable habit at this point. Maybe he’d feel a little bit better if he could pay these people back for their space.

Still drowsy, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.

“_What was that?!_” Pink Link exploded, causing Jumper to nearly punch himself in the eyeball. “I can’t believe you’d be that stupid! Irresponsible! Forget overextending your magic, you outright abused your life force! Did you want to die? I was under the impression that you did not, in fact, want to die!”

Pink Link groaned, and something hard landed on Jumper’s body. “Drink that. Hopefully you’ll be in good enough shape to head out again somewhat soon, else I’ll have to figure this whole thing out myself--which I wouldn’t have trouble with, not really, but I shouldn’t have to do everything for you. How old are you, seventeen? Eighteen? Don’t dump your responsibilities on a fifteen-year-old! By the gods, do you have any idea how _stupid_ that was?!”

Pink Link sounded incredibly upset--but he always sounded like he was at the height of whatever emotion he was feeling, didn’t he? 

To be fair, Jumper should’ve realized there was a reason he had weapons other than the Ice Rod. Magic had to come from somewhere, and judging by what had just happened to him, the power wasn’t stored in the items that used it. In fact, it almost seemed like… Jumper _himself_ was giving the items their power..?

Jumper waved to get Pink Link’s attention, then gestured to the pen and paper lying on the nearby table.

“Oh, right, you’re a mute, how are you supposed to respond to me if I don’t give you paper?” Pink Link sighed. “Here you are, then.”

Jumper scribbled out everything he could think to ask and say, all at once--before the present company could forget to let him speak again. He crossed things out, rewrote them, and crammed notes in edgewise--all while actively translating from his own language to Liria’s to Link’s. By the end, he could only hope that what he’d written made any sense. He was happy enough that Pink Link hadn’t exploded while he was waiting.

Jumper passed the note over.

“‘Magic is new to me. I don’t know how it works. Can I call you something other than Link? Ravio calls me Jumper, but now there are three of us. I’ve been calling you Pink in my head. You’re the only one with pink hair so far.’” 

Pink Link sighed, stopping partway through the page. “Gods, Jumper, your grammar is atrocious. I’ll arrange for a tutor at some point, if you're still here. Oh, but do call me ‘Pink’, if that makes things easier to sort out in your head.”

Jumper remembered learning to write from Miyo in the evenings… and how much he’d struggled with it. Pink’s insensitivity was boring a deeper and deeper hole.

“Moving onward. ‘Using the rod was a panic reaction. Pink--I’m calling you that now. Pink, I don’t know the first thing about using a sword. You had me swing it once, then dressed me in clothes I’ve never worn before and took me to the fight. I don’t know how magic works. I don’t know how to fight. I can’t speak to you, but you don’t notice because you can’t just let there be quiet. You’re either running your mouth... or just... running…’”

For the first time in Jumper’s experience, Pink slowed down. He stared at the page for a few seconds… then looked over at Jumper… then started to read again, more slowly.

“‘I understand that whatever brought me out of my world and into yours wants me to be a hero, but I still don’t fully understand what that thing is. I don’t know much of anything, Pink. You may have saved the world, and I’m sure you’re nice and settled into your role as a legendary hero and all, but up until very recently, I was a woodworker living in a little village with my uncle. Everything’s changed, and you’re moving so quickly that I don’t have a chance to do anything but nod along.’”

Pink stared at the page for what felt like forever… probably because he wasn’t speaking.

His left hand twitched.

“All right, Jumper.”

Pink crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside. He fixed a glare on Jumper, one that made Jumper’s throat close up. If Pink had seemed angry before… this was _fury_.

“You’ll learn to be a hero here and now.”

Even, measured words in a calm voice.

“Pick up the sword by the bed.”

Pink wanted to _fight_ him?

Jumper shook his head. There was no way he’d win against someone with as much experience as Pink likely had.

“Wrong answer.”

Pink picked up the sword and shoved it into Jumper’s hands. The younger boy’s uneven fingernails scratched red trails on Jumper’s skin--he didn’t seem to have any coordination, or any set way to hand the sword over.

“Rule number one, Jumper. If someone tells you you’re going to fight, _you are going to fight._”

Pink drew his sword and watched with narrowed eyes. He had a solid stance, as if expecting a challenge, but he was also standing in front of half-eaten fish on his kitchen table. The darkness outside left only torchlight to cast dramatic lights and shadows on his form. The contrast made Pink’s slim form and the bags under his eyes look sickly.

Jumper shook his head.

In the flicker of torchlight, Pink struck Jumper in the side with the flat of his blade. Jumper stumbled off the bed, barely managing to find balance on his feet.

“_Fight._”

Jumper tried to get a solid grip on the sword, but Pink hit him harder.

“Rule number two, no one knows how to fight until someone _beats them within an inch of their life!_”

This time, Pink kicked Jumper to the ground. Jumper’s blade clattered out of his hand. Pink’s boot pressed into Jumper’s chest, and the tip of his blade touched Jumper’s throat.

“Are you scared? Because you should be. If you’re not, then you don’t understand the lesson yet.”

Jumper couldn’t keep looking into the angry blue eyes above him anymore. He focused on the blade at his throat as well as he could. The proximity made his eyes strain, made black spots start to appear in his vision.

And then it disappeared.

“We head back out tomorrow.”

Pink set a bottle down by Jumper--he recognized it as the potion Pink gave him earlier--and then walked out of the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!  
And for those of you who've been patient with updates to policy, I thank you doubly. :)  
Our boy Pink here is problematic, huh? What's that all about..?  
Comments always welcome!


	15. guess my house is haunted

_”Entu?”_

_“Yes?”_

_“The world is old. You always say things about what happened in the Shan, thousands of years ago and all.”_

_“What of it?”_

_“Did everythin’ look the same? I know plants grow, an’ people live and die, but the hill behind our house hasn’t changed. Or the tree with the roots that stick out of it. Don’t all a’ that ever change?”_

_“‘Doesn’t’, Link. You’d better not let your proper speakin’ get away from you.”_

_“C’mon, can’t you answer my question?”_

_Link heard a sound he knew all too well: a rumble in Entu’s chest. He never understood why Entu would refuse to let out his laughs, but when he didn’t, Link could hear them tumbling in circles in his chest._

_“Yes, Link. Come to the hill with me.”_

_Link followed his uncle to the back of their house, and Entu led him to one particular spot on the hill. One of the roots of a large tree atop the hill created a brief interruption in the slope; the two of them could see the dirt making up the hill._

_“Do y’see the way the colors change from here to here?” Entu pointed._

_“Yeah… why’s that?”_

_“The ground we walk on has layers. When we dig to plant things, the dirt on top is the first to go--then everythin’ under it is soft and moist, perfect for growin’. An’ the thing is, the world grows and changes all the time--that second layer used to be on top. In fact…” Entu pointed to the lowest visible layer, almost at the bottom of the hill. “This one used to be on top, too.”_

_“But that’s the bottom of the hill!”_

_“Maybe back then there wasn’t a hill here. You see, Link, time runs diff’rently for the old things in the world. Jus’ like you live longer than a horse, the trees live longer than you, and the earth even longer than them. The Shan says Din formed the world with her power--but men like you and me could live and die three times over in the time it takes her to roll over in her sleep.”_

_Entu waved Link over to a tree stump. “An’ this here, this is somethin’ my pa taught me when I was young. Trees start out skinny, but they get wider and wider as they grow. You can tell how old a tree is by countin’ the rings. Every ring in the wood is a year.”_

_Link leaned over the stump. “Whoa! That’s an old tree!”_

_“Yes, it sure was.”_

_“...We cut it down, though. It lived for so long, an’ then we jes’ cut it down.”_

_“Link, things like trees n’ animals were put in this world to do more than live and die. Now, I know you’ve seen the horses eat grass, an’ the hawks pick up dead squirrels. All the things in this forest, livin’ or dead, provide for each other. We may have cut down this tree, but we also plant new ones. The most important thing is to respect the things that provide for you. Never forget that good firewood comes from trees that live long lives, an’ good meat comes from cows that eat good grass. It all works together, an’ if we take more n’ we give, that’s where the problems start.”_

_Link nodded. Respect things that provided for them? He could do that. He stepped forward and put a hand on the tree trunk._

_“Thank you for our firewood,” he said solemnly._

_Entu shook his head with a smile. “Now, I haven’t seen anyone thank a tree since I was younger n’ you! But that’s where our village started, an’ I know the forest appreciates you.”_

_“Good, ‘cause I don’t wanna make it mad.”_

_“You’re too good a boy to anger Farore. Now, c’mon, we’d better get a head start on cookin’ our dinner.”_

_“Should I thank the cow, too?”_

_“If you’d like.”_

* * *

Pink’s house was up on a hill, with a worn path carved into the slope to one side. The drop surrounding the house was steep, and about ten feet high; Jumper wondered how the house stood so steady for so long. He assumed the house had been there for a while, judging by the signs of age in the wooden planks that made up the outside of the house; he also assumed that the house stood until Link and Ravio lived in it, because although there was an annex to the home, it lay in the same exact spot with a similar appearance. This must be a strong hill to hold up a house for generations…

Jumper was standing in front of the side of the hill, in the dark. Scraggly grass tried and failed to cover the surface of the dirt. Moonlight barely lit up the layers visible down the side of the slope, the indicators of fertile soil or rocks or dry dirt. He tried to remember if the layers looked the same in the future, but he couldn’t recall.

“Is this place the same?”

Jumper looked up at Pink, standing at the edge of the grass about ten feet away from Jumper’s head.

“In the future, I mean. The place you got the mirror.”

Jumper shrugged, looking back down and tracing his finger along one of the lines in the soil.

“...My uncle’s name was Kacha.”

Jumper looked up again, this time in surprise. Pink slid off the ledge and landed on Jumper’s level, then met his eyes. Jumper could’ve sworn that Pink’s eyes were just as blue in the moonlight.

“This was his house. I grew up here, with him. Then, one night, he left for the castle… and I followed him. It was dark. Raining. By the time I figured out how to sneak in, and I found him, he was already mortally wounded. He left me his sword, and tried to tell me something about the Princess… but he wasn’t able to finish his sentence. Still haven’t figured out what he meant to say.”

Jumper hung his head a little, making his best attempt at an expression of sympathy.

“No, it’s all right. Not your fault… as much as I may have made it seem that way earlier.”

Pink gave Jumper a grim kind of smile, something less bombastic than usual.

“I once had someone tell me that I talk constantly, but I never say a word. I’ve never made the conscious decision to just--to sort of _spew_ words like a fountain, but maybe I’ve got to fill the space. I’m not a doctor of the mind, or even well-versed in emotions… although it might do me good to meet with one. D’you think so?”

Pink looked genuinely regretful, and lost in a thought process Jumper wasn’t privy to. Still, Pink looked expectant--so Jumper answered, but the best he could offer was a shrug.

“Well, I don’t know what I expected,” Pink sighed. “Maybe that’s fitting. Out here, in the dark, I’d have trouble reading your key off your arm--s’pose it’s just me talking for now, and that’s probably the last thing you want.”

Pink was showing his soul. Sharing something deep, something important. Jumper felt his skin starting to burn again.

“It’s sort of cold out here, Jumper… if you come inside, I swear I won’t attack again.”

Jumper nodded once and moved to follow Pink back to the house. He noticed that Pink looked almost _surprised_, as if he didn’t actually expect Jumper to come back.

“Right… you know, being too forgiving can be a weakness.”

He had to give Pink another chance if he was going to make it to the next important thing, anyways. He smiled reassuringly.

“Gods, your smile’s pretty. Do all of the ladies in your village fawn over you? I can see why they would,” Pink said.

Before Jumper had time to process the words Pink had just spoken to him, they were marching back to the house. He had to rush a few steps to keep up, but this time Pink noticed and slowed his pace a little.

* * *

Pink and Jumper sat inside the house, at the table. Pink had prepared food after both of them got a decent amount of sleep. Eggs and toast--bland, owing to the fact that Pink seemed to have absolutely no spices in his home.

“Okay, Jumper. You didn’t understand magic, correct?”

Jumper nodded, taking a bite of toast.

“Well, here’s how it works. If you’re born with an affinity for magic, then that’s that--you can use magic. Some people aren’t born that way, but can be granted magic by the power of a strictly magical being--here, they’re called Great Fairies. Not sure if that’s different in the future, but you get the idea.”

Pink hummed to himself. Then he seemed to light up with an idea when he looked over at a glass vase. He got up, removed the flowers from it, and set it between the two of them.

“Imagine this is your magic power. It’s finite--only a certain amount you can have at once. You see, the water’s about halfway to the top--so say you use the Ice Rod.”

Pink grabbed a wooden cup and emptied some water from the vase.

“It doesn’t materialize its power from thin air. It draws from a reserve inside of you, from your own magic power. You have to learn how to tell when it’s empty, because if you try and scrape up more power than you’ve got left…”

Pink plunged the cup straight into the bottom of the vase, cracking the glass. Jumper winced.

“Now, you can usually fix an overdraw on magic. Like you did--rest and potion works wonders. However, overdrawing ends up sapping energy from your inner soul. So, most of the time, it’s a much better idea to keep an eye on your magic level, and replenish it when you can. There are certain potions to be used for these things--generally, a magic potion will be green, and there’s also a blue potion that replenishes magic along with healing physical wounds. Blue potions are harder to come by, though--even witches charge a higher price.”

Pink carefully moved the vase off the table without completely shattering it, then returned with a bottle full of green liquid.

“I _strongly_ suggest you learn to fight without magic, but should you need it, I’ll leave you with this potion. You can keep the bottle, as well. Not many people know this, but potion bottles go through a special glass-blowing process--any normal glass bottle would decompose with a potion in it. It makes the potion bottles hard to come by, but I can spare one for you.”

Jumper bowed slightly in thanks and tucked the bottle away in Link’s leather bag.

“If you’d like to come outside and learn a bit more about using a sword before I throw you back into combat in the woods, I can set up a training dummy.”

Jumper nodded enthusiastically. It made Pink laugh, and this felt so much better than the first time around.

* * *

“You’re doing fantastic!”

Jumper rubbed his arm with his other hand. The sword felt heavier and heavier with every swing.

“There’s just one more thing I’d like to teach you. Your center of gravity needs to be lower,” Pink explained, dropping to a low stance.

Jumper mimicked his pose, and when Pink lifted his sword, Jumper mirrored him.

“All right. Imagine, if you will, a series of buttons… there’s one labeled ‘B’. Now, I want you to push that button, and let it build up energy in your body… and SPIN!”

Both of them spun in a circle, slicing the air with satisfying ripples of sound.

“Fantastic again! Now, try it on that dummy.”

Jumper stood before the scarecrow dummy, sword in hand.

Deep breath.

B.

Build up energy…

...and SPIN!

“WHOA!” Pink shouted. “You’ve sliced its head off!”

Sure enough, Jumper caught sight of the hay-filled sack that made up the dummy’s head--or, it _was_ hay-filled. Now, half the hay was on the ground next to its deflated form.__

_ _“It was a great show of power, but remember to maintain your balance. Low to the ground, don’t tip onto one foot,” Pink reminded him._ _

_ _Jumper nodded and dropped into his stance again. He kept his blade low--he wasn’t planning on executing the attack. He just wanted to check on his posture. And, sure enough, he was positioned to move all of his weight to his right foot during the swing. He adjusted the angle of his other leg a little to compensate._ _

_ _Pink cheered. “Smart man! I’d almost say you’re ready to take _me_ on! Fairly this time, of course.”_ _

_ _Jumper sheathed the sword and turned to grin at Pink. Maybe it was silly, but his growing confidence with a sword was making things a little easier to deal with._ _

_ _“Now, if you’re certain you’re ready, let’s head out. I’d prefer not to wait another day--your, ah, _horse_ seems to be particularly enjoying a single patch of grass, and I worry that if we leave him much longer, nothing will ever grow there again!”_ _

_ _Jumper nodded and beckoned Pink to Janus’s side._ _

_ _“How do I… all right, maybe if I put my foot here? And then--”_ _

_ _In the process of lifting himself onto Janus’s back, Pink fell backwards and nearly knocked Jumper over._ _

_ _“That didn’t go too well,” he mumbled. “Right! I suppose if I put my hand there this time…”_ _

_ _Though clumsily, Pink lifted himself up onto the horse using the stirrup and saddlehorn, and settled right into the saddle._ _

_ _“Is this right? Have I done it right?”_ _

_ _Jumper nodded encouragingly._ _

_ _“Fantastic! But… there’s hardly any room for you.”_ _

_ _Rather than trying to tap an explanation, Jumper grabbed Janus’s lead and shrugged._ _

_ _“Well… fine, but you’ll be riding on the way back!”_ _

_ _Doubtful. Jumper took one more look back at Pink… fifteen at the absolute most. He should be concerned with a million other things more fitting of his age than a corpse._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
I managed to update before midnight! Are you guys proud of me yet?!  
Pardon the silly little poke at gaming with Jumper's Quality Sword Tutorial, but after playing MOTHER 3 and encountering tutorials more or less exactly like that, I figured it couldn't hurt to reference the source material. :)  
Comments and feedback are ALWAYS welcome.


	16. making wishes

The woods seemed far less imposing when they had Janus with them. Jumper actually enjoyed the rustling, the birdsong, and the drifting leaves. It felt like home.

“It may be a bit difficult to reach our goal,” Pink told him. “There are paths your animal won’t fit through. Some of the best ones, too.”

As Janus followed the path, Jumper studied the trees around them. Now that he wasn’t terrified of any oncoming monsters, he noticed notches cut into the trunks, along with single letters. He wondered what they meant, and decided to ask Pink by tapping his leg and then pointing at one.

“Hm? Oh! Yes, the trees. Well, you see… this is the forest where I found the Master Sword. I had to track it down, and with all the monsters and such hanging about, keeping the layout of these woods organized in my head was a bit difficult. I had to mark where I’d been in some way.”

Jumper nodded thoughtfully, trying to puzzle out how a kid as young as Pink held the Master Sword. He knew that Link, according to Ravio, had fought Ganon. Wasn’t the Master Sword… the Shan said something about evil. It fought against evil? It determined whether things were good or evil? There were so many things that said “evil” in the Shan that Jumper tended to lose track. Still, any way he looked at it, there was no good reason for Pink to be anywhere near anything described plainly as “evil”.

“We should be coming upon them soon enough,” Pink told Jumper. “Might be a good idea to leave the animal for a short while.”

Jumper nodded and gently called Janus to a stop, just as they approached a large tunnel. It was clearly made of wood, but… an insanely large circumference of continuous wood. A tree trunk, presumably, hollowed out. Jumper could nearly walk through it without ducking.

“This would be one of those paths he wouldn’t fit through,” Pink said. “I took you diving through the trees before. Sort of in a rush, I was. Sorry about that.”

Jumper gave him a reassuring smile and nodded towards the tunnel. He took Janus’s lead and tied it securely to a branch, then reached up to help Pink.

“Right. Off the seat, and...”

Pink almost looked… _absent,_ for barely half a second. Then he swayed a little, and shouted in surprise as he lost his balance and fell over. Jumper barely managed to catch him, but he quickly recovered and set him upright.

“Thanks,” Pink muttered, dusting off his clothes despite never hitting the ground.

Jumper tapped him on the arm to grab his attention. Once they were looking each other in the eyes, Jumper made sure to show his concern clearly on his face.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Pink assured. “Just a little dizzy spell. Likely only from my unfamiliarity with your horse.”

It didn’t sound like a very solid excuse… and Jumper knew how teenagers loved to hide what they were struggling with. He’d have to have a talk with Pink later, once the mystery of the forest monsters was solved.

Pink was right on one account, though: he’d dragged Jumper through the woods with little grace before. Jumper had stumbled over the twigs and roots, barely noticing their surroundings as he kept his focus on making sure he didn’t fall over. Maybe Pink only cared about that much, about making it to the destination without falling over.

No, that was wrong, and Jumper knew it was wrong. Pink wasn’t “just running” as he’d carefully written out; he was running _away_ from something. He talked loud enough to fill the space, and moved quickly enough to make sure the ground didn’t swallow him up.

Was Jumper running away in the same way? Maybe he was drowning himself in the trivial things, in love and adrenaline, to avoid the truth. He was dousing the flames in a pool of distractions.

But then… as Jumper took in the tunnel they were about to enter, he thought of how many rings they couldn’t see. How long that tree had lived before it fell, how much it must’ve seen in these woods. The layers of the earth and the wood, combining, telling them about the years gone by.

“Jumper..?”

Jumper glanced over at Pink… who was staring down at the ground as they walked.

“You’ve met another version of us. And… you said you also met his counterpart from… Lorule, was it?”

Jumper nodded, hoping Pink would still catch it in his peripheral vision.

“I never realized there was… a counterpart for all of us. You know? Here, where we are now, those mirrors… they take us to the Dark World. That’s what we’ve always called it. Hell, to simplify. Was this counterpart of Link’s…”

Jumper tugged at Pink’s sleeve, guiding him to a stop. He uncovered his key and rested a finger on Pink’s arm for a few seconds to let him gain his bearings before they had to do the work of translating taps into words.

‘N--O--T--B--A--D’

“He wasn’t… so Lorule wasn’t--_isn’t_\--a bad place, then.”

‘B--I--G--H--E--L--P’

“I’m sure. If you don’t mind my asking, what was he doing in Hyrule?”

Well… if people gave Link a hard time about loving men in the future, it would probably be even worse in the past. Still, he doubted Pink would be too judgmental, after everything they’d talked about.

‘L--I--V--E--S--W--I--T--H--L--I--N--K’

“Er… why? Can’t he find company in Lorule? It must be difficult to live in Hyrule as a person from actual hell.”

Jumper thought for a moment on how to word things.

‘I--N--L--O--V--E’

“He’s in love? Is that even possible for someone who comes from such a dark place?”

Pink shifted a bit on the spot, eyes nervously flicking across Jumper’s alphabet.

“This, ah… may sound sort of silly, but do you know… whether this other ‘Link’ ever found anyone to love?”

A loud, deep, howling cry rustled the leaves around their feet, and Jumper stiffened. That must be their target.

Pink seemed to divert his attention as well. “Right. No time for all that confusion. We’ve got to get going with our mission.”

The two set out through the rest of the tunnel with determination. They were running again.

* * *

_”Kacha..?”_

_A boy, too young, knelt at the bedside. His hair was the color of carnations, brushing softly against the worn quilt._

_“Ah. Link.”_

_“I came as soon as I got the message.”_

_“Thank you.”_

_Link’s hair brushed against his uncle’s hand._

_“I didn’t… know it would happen like this,” Link said. “I thought we’d have more time. After I reversed all the damage, after I fixed Hyrule, you were supposed to live. You were… supposed to live.”_

_“Ah, ah--watch your L. Don’t get sloppy.”_

_Link’s blue eyes started to shine more light back. “That’s why you need to stay, Kacha… you have to remind me to speak properly.”_

_“If I haven’t gotten through to you in the fourteen years you’ve been on Hylia’s earth, then you’re a lost cause. However, I know that’s not the case. You’re a stronger boy than that.”_

_Link sniffled. His eyes moved to the large flat patch in the quilt. It shouldn’t have been flat. It should’ve been raised up to accommodate Kacha’s left leg._

_“You don’t sound sick…”_

_“Being a part of the Royal Guard requires a certain tolerance for pain. You know this.”_

_Link’s hand drifted over the empty space, as if he could find a missing piece of Kacha with his hand instead of his eyes._

_“Don’t the doctors cut off limbs all the time?” Link asked. “People live after that…”_

_“Doctors have methods. The opposing army, unfortunately, didn’t take the liberty of stemming my blood flow before the attack.”_

_“But… wouldn’t you have bled out?”_

_“Another brave soldier burned my wound shut. Unfortunately, there was already a sickness in me. It couldn’t be helped.”_

_Link stared at the empty quilt for a while longer. His face was too young, and his eyes were too desperate. It made for a disturbing picture._

_“I should’ve come earlier…”_

_“You made it here as quickly as you could.”_

_“You should be at home with me, Kacha.”_

_“I won’t survive the trip, Link.”_

_A small, sun-tanned, delicate hand gripped onto a large, calloused, dirtied palm._

_“I’m pink and you’re blue… how can a flower live without a sky?”_

_“You had better stop reciting poetry at every turn. You know that you’re a warrior.”_

_“Hyrule fights to end wars, not to win them.”_

_Kacha laughed, a low rumble that exploded into a cough._

_“War will never end. You were chosen to fight, and you’ll never _stop_ fighting. Such is the way of the soldier, Link.”_

_Link wrapped one of his long locks of rosy hair around his fingers. It was a soft color, a soft texture. He liked soft things._

_“I’m going to write you a poem when you’re gone.”_

_“Link…”_

_“A song.”_

_Kacha exhaled, long and heavy._

_“Get your head out of the clouds, boy.”_

_Kacha’s hair looked matted and greasy._

_“I’ll be here with you until then, if that’s all right.”_

_“Of course it is.”_

_Link sat down by the foot of the bed. He leaned back, and his hair pooled up on the very edge of the thin mattress. Below its burst of color, the quilt looked lifeless._

* * *

So, they were back here again. Jumper knew what he had to do: stick to a few basic moves, and don’t try anything fancy. They were, after all, morons--at least, according to Pink--and he could easily outsmart them with the techniques he’d mastered already.

_Mastered,_ he felt, was a very strong word for what he’d learned during his second attempt with Pink. Still, Pink insisted that Jumper had an “aptitude for the blade”. It was a lot of faith for Jumper to live up to, but he had to admit… the confidence Pink had in him was inspiring.

“All right,” Pink whispered. “No more overspending magic, understood?”

Jumper nodded. No more reliance on the ice rod.

“Now… you know what you’re good at right now. Don’t try anything too stupid--don’t be like me, Jumper.”

Pink cracked a smile, and Jumper smiled back.

“If that’s all, then… here we go.”

Jumper followed Pink out of the trees, somewhat messily drawing the sword out of its sheath. They were at the very edge of the mob, with only a few scattered monsters to take down. Good. He could get some real practice in.

A smaller one with sickly red skin rushed at him, raising a club. He ducked to avoid the swing, then used the time the creature was stumbling to adjust his posture. Just as the red monster wound up to strike again, Jumper sliced a gash into its abdomen, causing it to drop its weapon and cry out in pain.

Huh. Morons. Just like Pink said.

Jumper took a couple of steps forward and raised his sword--and then the red thing _bit_ him on the ankle, and he hopped backwards, nearly losing his balance.

Wait. The sword. He’d dropped the sword!

The realization came too late, and he saw the red monster brandish the stolen sword and then rush at him with it in both gnarled fists.

Entirely thinking on his feet, Jumper grabbed the monster’s abandoned club and swung it right into the thing’s knees. The poor excuse for a creature screeched again as it collapsed to the ground, sword falling from its grip.

Jumper dropped into a squat to grab the sword, but it disappeared from the ground just before he closed his hands around it. Someone or some_thing_ else had the sword.

He looked around, unable to make out any particular--

     _Hylian._
_  
_

It was the exact same monster he’d faced before his body burnt alive. The monster that sent him scrambling to the pearl. The monster that shoved him into stranger and stranger worlds by the day, never sure of whether he’d be able to fix anything.

He couldn’t, and he knew he couldn’t--at least, not now. But this one monster represented everything Jumper was suppressing in his head. _Burning. Melting flesh. Screaming. Begging. The smell of human tissues cooking in the heat and pressure. Skin warping, bubbling, sinking. Everyone he loved. Everyone he cared about. Melting. Burning. Fire. Fire._

And just like that, Jumper’s skin was aflame. He was a corpse, so he had nothing to lose.

His scalded palms closed painfully on the club once more, and he rushed at The Monster with speed and rage through his withered, skeletal form. He felt like screaming, or passing out, at the sheer pain of doing anything when his flesh was alight, but the energy was too powerful to pass up. 

He couldn’t pass out, but he screamed the whole time. His skin was blistering open as he slit the throat of The Monster, but he wasn’t done yet. He spun around and disarmed another monster with a club, barely managing to pry the weapon away before another club whizzed by his brittle, breaking hair on the back of his head. He kept screaming as he removed that one, too, then grabbed the two monsters and smashed their skulls together. 

He was Jumper. He was an ember. He was a corpse with the power to drag others to his level, and he could feel their suffering when his dangerously hot hands closed on their skin. Death wasn’t cold, it was searing hot, so hot that there’s nothing left to feel anything with because it’s all been suffocated or burned.

_Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire._

He didn’t bother to slow down. He couldn’t hurt the forest, not really; after all, as blazing as his skin was, his fire didn’t spread. Still, the monster bodies piled up, and the temperature grew ever higher.

And then, in the silence, it vanished.

Jumper stared at the monster corpses, barely registering that this was in fact his own action.

“Jumper..?”

He turned to face a very frightened-looking Pink. Frightened… of _him?_

“I tried to stop you… you were screaming at the top of your lungs…”

_What happened to Jumper when he burned?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!  
It's five till midnight and I'm somehow already having trouble keeping my eyes open. Ugh. I hope I didn't miss any errors in the text!  
The italicized section between Pink and his uncle made me realize that Pink, at his core, has vibes similar to this song for me: https://youtu.be/QHhMlDq2eL8  
Comments and feedback always welcome!


	17. how we will move forward with this story

Okay, everyone, let's talk.  
I planned on resuming the fic around this time, and going back to a schedule. However, a LOT has changed since then. I couldn't have even imagined half the things that would come about. I had no concept that I would be putting on the battle armor of a mask every time I went to work, and following an hourly alarm to clean high-touch surfaces. I had no idea "high-touch surfaces" would become a part of my daily vocabulary. I had no way to predict that I'd be talking casually about "the virus" or "the world", or that "stay safe, wash your hands!" would be a common goodbye. The world has undergone such a major shift since I started Pearl of Parallels (at least, on Ao3)!  
There are so many factors influencing my day-to-day life now, and I'm sure it's the same way for all of you. This last semester nearly ended me where I stood, and I need a bit of time with no pressure. I hope you all understand.  
Don't get me wrong, I will continue writing Pearl--I won't disappear like I did for this hiatus. I'm just doing away with the update schedule. And here's my reasoning.

This whole time, I kept Pearl on hiatus thinking that the regular uploads would kill me. However, if you take a look at my account, I've been steadily uploading stories for Mother. If you don't know what that is, it's a decently obscure 1989 RPG; you may know Mother 2 as Earthbound for the Super Nintendo. Ness and Lucas from SSB are from Mother 2 and Mother 3, respectively.  
Something about writing for a fandom as huge as Legend of Zelda was daunting to me. I felt like I had to upload on a schedule, or people would lose interest. It was very stressful to think that I would lose readership, or not gather attention, because hundreds of other people were doing the same thing I was doing. Stressing myself out over upload schedules was causing the content to be shorter, less involved than I wanted, and it had less heart in it.  
Contrast that with the Mother works, where you can see the one-shots going from 2k to 3k to 4k, and there's no stress in it. I have no schedule. The Mother archive is laughably small (a decent amount of the fics are tagged with either the other Mother games or Smash Bros., and it's still only about 200 fics). There are no expectations. I'm just writing for the sake of writing, for the sake of liking it. That love had faded from Pearl for me.  
More importantly, one of my regular readers on those stories is currently writing a long fic and doing it whenever they can instead of scheduling. And, surprisingly enough, they're still reaching plenty of people with their works--making people happy, which is all I want to do here. They take their time, and they make their content count. I would rather do that than post word-vomit every Monday night. I would rather put quality over quantity--uh, quality over frequency? That's not exactly the saying, but you get the idea.

Moving forward, you all can expect longer chapters at a less frequent upload pace. I want to do this for the love of writing and not for the pressure of "qualifying" in a large fanbase. I hope you all understand!  
Thank you for coming back. Writing my first multichapter has been a rollercoaster ride for sure, but I'm figuring it out. I appreciate everyone who's stuck around. :)  
Next update is in progress. I hope y'all are ready!

\--Caves


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